One by One, One After Another
by S.RAYN
Summary: Mikaela, self taught Mage traveling to accept his summons so he can finally start his life. Yuu, untrained and full of repressed magic, wandering from city to city looking for a place to belong. One act of kindness and a debt repaid brings them together to reach their end goals and find their place one step at a time.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

* * *

Yuu kicks a rock and watches it roll down the dirt path, wincing at the slight tug against his back. The sun is beaming down on him and the pain is still fresh in his mind with the evidence all over him, from his cut hands to his aching back. It's a beautiful clear day, the dirt roads empty, trees lining each side of the road in case he needs 's even a slight breeze ruffling his hair. It's a perfect day for traveling, but he can't enjoy any of it. He's in too much pain.

Every bead of sweat stinging his back is a constant reminder of how he barely escaped with his life from that beating. His attacker had been huge with muscles stretching the thin fabric of his shirt. It only took him a second to realize the enormous mistake he'd made, but by then, the leather strap was already cutting into his skin from the man's blows. He had held up his hands to protect himself, though one hit to his hands with the strap was all he needed to recognize the blows would be less damaging to his back, even with the loss of a precious shirt that the strap easily tore through.

All because he was hungry.

He couldn't help it though, the food he'd managed to steal had run out days ago and he'd been keeping himself full on water since then. He was desperate for food. When he'd caught the scent of cooking stew and glimpsed it through the window, he'd lost all rational thought. The moment the woman had stepped out of her house, he'd slipped inside. He never even reached the bowls before the man had stepped around the corner, face morphing from surprise to rage as he reached for a weapon. Only the woman's shocked cries at his lashing had given him a brief reprieve to escape, just not soon enough.

Yuu hated small villages like those, so picturesque, quiet and clean, houses neatly lined up on wide streets. People going about their business, but they never had any extra food he could scrounge for and the next city was still at least a two days walk. After that he hadn't wanted to push his luck there, word travels fast in a small place like that. Better to leave before he was run out, so he'd refilled his canteens from the well and left with the exact same meager possessions he'd arrived with.

Plucking agitatedly at his shirt, he really wished he'd been able to steal another one. He only had one extra now and this one was nearly crusted to his back with blood from the lacerations. Changing shirts now would only ruin both of them, then he wouldn't have any. If the threadbare fabric even counted as a shirt anymore, it was almost translucent at this point.

He had no clue what he would do once Winter came, hope he could find somewhere that would let him pass the season in relative peace. He didn't need much, just shelter from the wind at night and to be left alone. Yuu shudders, the familiar tingle manifesting in his fingertips then his body repressing it immediately on instinct, followed by the usual dizziness and nausea. He collapses against a tree with a tired sigh. _You'd think after eight years without magic, this would have stopped._

His head falls back against the bark and he wills the symptoms to pass, he has miles to go. It's not safe sleeping alone out in the open at night. Staggering back to his feet, he continues on, letting his feet guide him as his head slowly returns to normal.

It seems he can't win, no matter what choice he makes. He's not sure how much longer he can last like this. Why couldn't he have been born without magic? It's never done him any good anyway.

The minute he showed the first sign of magic, he was thrown out on the street by the orphanage despite his young age and no one would have anything to do with him.

Fear of magic from anyone not associated with the Mages was ingrained into society from the oldest members to the youngest. If you weren't a Mage, then your magic must be from demons or so people were told. A stupid superstition to him because he'd know if he was evil. He would have killed every person at the orphanage when they threw him out, but he hadn't.

Instead he'd repressed every spark of magic inside him in hopes of passing as any other pathetic kid stuck on the streets and it worked, for the most part. Until the dizziness, headaches, and weakness had started. He'd thought those symptoms wouldn't last forever, only until his body adjusted through its magical puberty or whatever was happening, yet eight years later and they still persist.

But, his only other choice is try a clumsy attempt at using magic, have a target on his back, and probably incite a mob to hunt him down and kill him. He'd be nowhere skilled enough to protect himself. Normal society has no place for those with extra abilities. He's pretty sure his parents weren't Mages and there's no place for him within their pure blood circle. He's an outcast from both. It's fine, though, he's been taking care of himself this long and he'll continue to survive.

Although sometimes he wonders, what's the point? To keep struggling through each day with no hope for the future? After all, there's nowhere for someone like him to go. Drifting from place to place until he dies? No thanks. He doesn't _need_ anyone, but if he's honest with himself, life would be a lot less shitty if he had at least one person. But, he's well aware his personality isn't welcoming of close friendships. No one he's met has stuck around more than a few months, not even the others his own age. Although, that might be because of their circumstances. A single individual is far less noticeable than a group of kids.

Yuu jumps as a wild cat dashes across his path with a hiss and disappears into the trees. He really does need to start preparing for night time. There's so many things that could go wrong traveling alone, he may be a lone wolf, but he's a city lone wolf.

The best place is away from the road, probably far enough inside the tree line that no one will stumble onto him, but not too far in that a wild animal might find him. There are wheel tracks leading off the path just ahead which likely means a water source nearby. If he can get there, refill his canteens without being noticed, then get out, he'll walk until the sun starts to set and park it for the night up in a tree. He's usually pretty good about waking up by daybreak and if he does, he can make it to the city by tomorrow night and finally get more food.

Stepping away from the wheel tracks and into the clearing, Yuu's eyes light up at the sight in front of him, he's finally having some good luck for once. A river for fresh drinking water _and_ an abandoned shirt laying out on a giant rock in the sun to dry, all he needs now is food. He takes a quick glance around and there's no one in sight, in and out without any trouble. Before anyone has a chance to show up, he's racing towards the shirt, intent on disappearing into the trees until it's safe to come back for water.

"Shit!" The second his fingers touch the fabric, Yuu's tumbling backwards through the air as his fingers grasp frantically for purchase on the rock's surface before he lands headfirst in the river.

Yuu breaks the surface, coughing up water from his unexpected submersion and hears bubbly laughter. "Hey! That's not funny!" He yells, swiping the water from his eyes to get a better look at his attacker.

Perched cross-legged on the rock is a well-fed, bare chested boy close to his own age giving him a wide smile, bright cerulean eyes flicking over his features curiously. The difference in their sizes makes him suddenly glad for the water hiding his own gaunt body. "Find your own shirt then."

"I did!"

"No, I'm afraid this one's mine."

"If you wanted it, you shouldn't have left it!"

"It was _drying_ and clearly I didn't leave it because I'm right here."

Yuu mutters a few choice words before treading water to the shore, hauling himself out of the water on shaking arms, and collapsing on the warm earth with a shiver. That short swim took more out of him than he had to give. He really might not make it to the next city.

"Hey, you okay?"

A soft nudge to his ribs and he's cracking his eyes open to see the other boy staring down at him. Yuu squints up at him, taking in the sunlight reflecting off his noticeably blonde hair. "I'm better now that your enormous head is blocking the sun, so thanks."

His concerned expression immediately morphs into a scowl, "Forget I asked. I'm leaving and taking my shirt with me."

"W-wait!" Yuu sits up quickly, slightly disoriented from the height change. "Where are you going?"

"Why does it matter?"

"We might be going the same way."

He cocks his head to the side in curiosity, "And you think I should travel with a thief?"

"I'm not a thief!" Yuu protests.

"You tried to steal my shirt."

" _Borrow._ "

"And when were you planning to give it back?"

Yuu's eyes dart to the side, "...Later?"

The other boy rolls his eyes with a scoff, "Later when I never saw you again?"

"Maybe."

The blonde shakes his head, "Fortunately, I'm not as careless as you."

"You just caught me off guard."

"Uh huh," he looks Yuu over with a critical eye, "I doubt you'd be able to do much even if you _had_ seen me coming."

Yuu glares back at him self consciously, aware of how the soaked shirt clings to his ribs, "I'm a lot stronger than I look."

"Did you almost pass out a few minutes ago?"

" _No._ "

"Really?" He brings a finger to his chin in contemplation, "I'm pretty sure I saw your arms give out."

Yuu scowls back, "Just because I don't swim much doesn't mean I'm weak."

"Right, well, weakling or not. I've got places to be and you're untrustworthy extra baggage, so goodbye."

Yuu sighs and slumps against the ground, _he barely even gave me the time of day._ They could've at least walked to the next town together. Two people were more likely to make it than one. And more importantly, he probably had food. _Ah well._

Green eyes look up questioningly at the sound of footsteps when the blonde returns, this time fully dressed and with a bag slung over his shoulders. "Here," he shoves an apple and half a loaf of bread towards Yuu. "You look like you haven't eaten in days and I'd feel a little guilty if you died after I threw you in the water."

For the briefest second Yuu considers letting his pride win out and rejecting the food, but his body makes the choice for him, arms reaching out and snagging the food before the other boy has a chance to withdraw the offer.

"You're welcome?"

"Thanks," Yuu mutters reluctantly around a mouthful of bread.

The blonde shakes his head and readjusts his bag, "Maybe next time, be a little more careful."

"Trust me, I don't need advice from you."

He only shrugs and Yuu watches as he turns, walking off without a single backwards glance. It's probably for the better, hanging around with someone like that would have made him stand out just that much more. Yuu won't deny he was cute with his bright blue eyes and curls of flaxen hair, not to mention his smile was killer, but all that combined with his foreign looks no doubt turn heads wherever he goes, attention that Yuu doesn't need or want.

Then the obvious fact that he was clearly from the upper levels of society. No one looks that perfect or confident outside of those privileged people. Yeah, he dodged a bullet by being rejected.

Yuu picks up the apple and studies it, the green skin tantalizing to his malnourished body. It's been so long since he's had fresh fruit and he should probably save it until he's almost to the next city, yet already he's sinking his teeth in, grinning at the tart taste as juice drips down his chin. He finishes it in less than five minutes, discarding the core and standing up with a stretch.

"No point staying here," he muses aloud. It's still a day's walk to the next city and that meal will only last him so long. Squeezing the remaining water from his shirt, Yuu takes in the sun's position. No more than a few hours until sunset, he better move if he wants to avoid trouble and find somewhere to rest before nightfall.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

* * *

Mikaela studies the map in front of him from the safety of his room at the inn. It's an older room of creaking wooden floors, thin walls and sparsely furnished with a only a small desk, chair, and bed inside, but it's somewhere to rest his head. He's got such a long way to where the Mages live. He's heard there are faster methods of transportation than walking and wagon, but they haven't been developed in this part of the land yet. They can barely even fathom a steam powered train here. Another way to keep the people separated from Mages. He can't use teleportation magic either, it's not something he could discover on his own and he's a little wary of trying something that requires such a high level of skill. It's just as likely he might end up killing himself while trying.

A quick flick of his wrist and a small ball of light appears, enough to illuminate the darkening room. There's no way he'll make it to his destination before winter sets in. At the rate he's traveling, he'll be in the middle of nowhere when winter starts, but the only alternative is to wait it out and delay his trip by months. Something he has no desire to do. The sooner he gets this over with, the faster he can go places he really wants to see. The ocean, the scented hills, the icicle forests, all more interesting than where he is now. Besides, he wouldn't put it past the Mages to punish him in some way for not obeying them immediately.

He checks once again to make sure the letter is still packed safely away in his bag. A letter...the only reason he's bothering to go this far. With his magic, he could have found a nice town and set himself up quite nicely, provided he never let anyone else learn of his skills. But, written inside the letter given to him before he left the orphanage were strict instructions to see the Mages when he turned sixteen.

Why? He has no idea. Does he harbor the illusion that he'll be welcomed into their society with open arms? No. The Mages are notorious for only taking care of their own and by 'their own,' they mean pure blood Mages born in their own community, not random children who happen to have some magic from an ancestor in their blood. Those they condemn.

Magic makes you different from the rest of the humans and if the Mages want nothing to do with you, you're an outsider. No one will accept you, except others with similar abilities. He remembers several years back when people with low level magic decided to band together and form their own community where they didn't have to hide. It lasted a few months before the whole place was mysteriously burned to the ground. No one said it, but everyone knew what happened.

Although, it doesn't matter to him anyway, he has no intention of going that route. Finish his business with the Mages, travel, then settle somewhere nice. That's his life plan, everyone else can burn for all he cares. Speaking of which, he needs gold for all that and it's time for him to earn it.

Leaving the inn, it's a short trip to the izakaya he's spent the last few days working at. It wasn't hard to get a temporary position there, they took one look at his face and the owners were eager to let him work. No doubt because they thought his face would bring in more customers. He's not sure if it did or not, but the customers that do come in always seem pleased to see him, requesting that he specifically serve their tables. It's something he appreciates because the more tables you serve, the higher your pay. Needless to say, it hasn't made him popular with the regular staff who see him as an interloper.

He steps inside the izakaya, making his way quickly to the back to pull his robe on. It's dim inside, full of raucous laughter at the low tables crowded throughout the main room. The scent of yakitori permeates the air and he assumes that must be the special tonight. He's in luck, it's busy. That makes it easier to slip a few extra coins while people are distracted. Here there are too many people to keep track of every separate bill, so people pay per order, giving him numerous opportunities to 'earn' more.

The staff lead calls him out and he begins. Smiling at everyone, being attentive to his customer's needs, and navigating the tight spaces with ease, ignoring when every so often a wandering hand makes contact with him. Keeping guests happy is his only concern, he can deal with something as harmless as a touch. Besides what he earns will more than make up for it.

Each time someone calls him over to order, a small bit of magic levitates an extra coin or two from their pouches as they pay and right into his hand with the given payment. It's quick, simple, and no one's the wiser. On a busy night like tonight, there's far too much commotion for the guests to notice and by the end of his second hour, his own coin pouch is feeling much heavier.

It's going well until a hand slams on his wrist and several coins fall to the floor. He already has a smile fixed on his face as he turns his attention to the customer and meets his coworker's angry gaze instead. "Can I help you, Goro?"

"Why are you overcharging our customers?

"I'm not, that's what he gave me."

"And why would he do that?"

"I don't know," he shrugs. "Maybe because he likes me?"

"And the past three customers just happened to feel the same also?"

Mikaela's smile remains carefully placid, "I guess so." He takes a step back from the table with coins in hand. "I should get his order."

He curses quietly as he heads back to the kitchen, aware that Goro is right behind him. He got careless, he should have been aware of those brown eyes monitoring his every move. Goro hasn't liked him since he started, adamant against hiring him, sure that he would only cause trouble. It fits that he'd be looking for any chance to be proven right.

"One order of teriyaki," he tells the cook, placing a coin inside the jar.

"Don't forget the other ones," Goro says loudly to make sure he's heard above the noise.

"Those are _mine._ "

He steps forward, intruding on Mikaela's personal space, "Yes, they were _given_ to you with a little help from magic."

"No, they were given to me because I'm good at my job unlike you."

Brown eyes narrow at him in scorn, "So when we check wherever you've been stashing those coins, all the customers will say they gave them to you freely?"

Mikaela tilts his head away from the close proximity, "Of course."

"Put all the coins in the jar and I won't reveal your secret, then maybe you won't get run out of town. But, don't show your face here again."

The blue of his eyes turns icy as Mikaela stares him down, "I'm not giving anyone anything."

"So be it."

He opens his mouth and Mikaela's pushing past him, skirting around tables right towards the door, ignoring the shout behind him. Looks like he's overstayed his welcome. He's almost to the central square and safety when he's yanked back by the shirt and strong armed against a wall.

Unsurprisingly it's Goro, one other worker, and the owner's eldest son. He wonders if they've suspected him for a while or just taken Goro's word for it. "Don't you have an izakaya to take care of?"

"Hand over the coins and we won't hurt you," he states, ignoring Mikaela's question.

His eyes glance down to the thick wooden stick in the other boy's hand, they didn't come unprepared. Mikaela thinks the situation over critically. Magic is out of the picture because unless he kills them all, they'll remember him and know for sure he used magic. All they have now is a guess. If he kills them all, people will still suspect him because they were following after him. There's no good solution here and he's _not_ giving up the coins, but there's also no way he can take all three of them at once with only physical strength.

He's too busy considering how badly a beating from all three of them would hurt and trying to formulate an escape plan that he misses when the owner's son goes down. All three of them turn in surprise to see the skinny boy from a few days ago brandishing a broken plank of wood. _Guess he_ was _stronger than he looked._

Emerald eyes meet his for a brief second and it spurs him into action. His arm wraps Goro's neck and squeezes while the other boy knocks the remaining one before he can react, seemingly unmindful of the blood now splattering his plank. "Do you want me to just knock him out too?"

"No, that's okay. You can put down the plank now."

He releases Goro and steps away, letting his unconscious body slump to the ground and studies the other boy carefully. _What's his motivation?_ He didn't have to endanger himself to help him, he could have kept going and left Mikaela to his fate, but he didn't. Most people would have. _Why?_ Out here, he's positive a bit of food doesn't make anyone think they owe anyone anything.

Green eyes, tanned skin, messy black hair, thick lashes, threadbare clothes, scrawny, and dirty all over, _a thief with a secret heart of gold?_

"Stop looking at me like that!"

"Like what?"

"I don't know! Like your brains about to explode from confusion. It's annoying."

 _Nah._ "Well, I am curious as to how you made it here. I was sure you'd pass out along the way."

Yuu shoots him a sour look, "I made it just fine _and_ saved you."

He smiles slightly, "I suppose I owe you now."

"Yeah, that's right!" Yuu sticks out his hand, "So, hand over my payment."

"You can come with me."

"What?"

"That's your payment."

Mikaela watches his eyebrows furrow in consternation, "I'd rather have the money, though."

"Tough." He steps past the raven haired teen to grab his discarded bag, "Let's go."

"But I changed my mind! I don't want to go with you anymore!"

"Alright, your loss," he shrugs. "I'm still not paying you."

"I saved your life!"

"I gave you food," he counters easily.

"You're too much trouble!"

Mikaela gives him a wry smile, "Somehow, I think you're far more trouble than I am."

"More reason for us to stay separate!"

"Are you coming or not? I'm not going to stay here and wait for them to wake up." The other boy murmurs a few choice words before sulkily coming after him, dragging his feet the whole way. "You're going to do that the whole time, aren't you?"

" _You_ could pay me to leave."

He sighs, "What's your name?"

"Yuuichirou," he grits out reluctantly.

"What do your friends call you?"

"I don't have any."

Mikaela glances back with a smile, "Not surprising."

"No one asked you!"

There's thoughtful silence for a few minutes before he announces, 'Yuu-chan.'

"What?"

"Since we'll be traveling together, I'll be your first friend." He gives Yuu a megawatt smile, "And that's the nickname I'm choosing for you."

Yuu stares at him blankly, "I'm not answering to that."

"I'm Mikaela," he continues on as if Yuu hadn't spoken.

"Don't care."

"You should."

"Well I don't."

"So, Yuu-chan, where are you headed?"

"..."

"This isn't going to work if you don't at least try."

"I don't want it to work! I want you to pay me, so I can leave!"

Mikaela rounds on him with a frown, "Leave and go where? Last time I saw you, you were starving and about to pass out from a swim. So, tell me, where will you go?"

Yuu crosses his arms and glares him down, "Anywhere that's not with you."

"Why? You have nothing and no one. You're more likely to survive with me than on your own."

"I just...I'm better off by myself."

"Yuu-chan," Mikaela rests his hands on the other boy's shoulders and he can feel the tension in Yuu's body, how guarded his emerald eyes become as if Mikaela intends to hurt him. "I'm almost positive you're just going to sleep on the street tonight, come back with me and we'll talk about it in the morning."

He shakes Yuu gently when he doesn't receive a response, trying to make eye contact with emerald eyes that keep avoiding his gaze, "Yes?"

"I'm better off alone," Yuu repeats stubbornly.

"Alright," he sighs, "In the morning if you really don't want to stay, I'll pay you and you can leave."

"Okay."

"You know, money's not everything."

"Says the one who has plenty of food," Yuu scoffs.

Mikaela glances up towards the night sky and gauges the moon's position, it must be almost three in the morning by his measure. "It's late, we should get back."

"I'm only coming with you for the money."

"Believe me, I know. Hungry?"

"No."

"If you say so," but he still stops by one of the last open food stalls and purchases several nikuman that he delivers into Yuu's hands before leading him down the cramped streets to the inn. It may not be the nicest inn, but it's secluded and quiet.

He ignores the suspicious look the inn keeper's daughter throws him when he arrives back with Yuu. Her suspicions aren't unexpected. They probably make quite a sight, him calm and clean while Yuu's covered in dirt shoving the buns in his mouth as fast as possible. Mikaela snorts lightly at the sight and Yuu glares at him. "Thought you weren't hungry?"

"I'm not."

"Uh huh," he places an extra coin on the counter and ushers Yuu towards the stairs, firmly locking the door to his room. "You can take a bath if you want, I paid her extra."

"...No thanks."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." It's only when he looks up from untying his work robe that he realizes Yuu has withdrawn as far away from him as possible in the small room and looks distinctly uncomfortable. His shoulders are hunched over and he's shifting from side to side while doing his best to avoid looking at him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just ready to sleep." He looks towards the bed apprehensively, "We're not sharing, right?"

"No, I don't know you well enough to share a bed with you plus you won't bathe." Yuu's shoulders relax infinitesimally and he has the realization that Yuu must have thought he'd been lured into a trap. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Yuu scowls at him, "Like you could!"

Rather than answer, he passes Yuu a blanket which the other boy quickly buries himself under. He looks down at the huddled form in perplexity, he supposes the floor and street are equally hard, but at least it's inside. Stepping over Yuu, he slips under the blankets of his own bed after securely tying his bag to the bedpost. He'd be lying if he said he trusted Yuu not to sneak coins and disappear while he's asleep.

Sleep doesn't come easy to him, between his hopefully new companion and the close call he had today, there's a lot on his mind. It's best if they lay low and get out of town by tomorrow. All it would take is a basic description of them and they'd be identified.

Mikaela peers over the side of the bed at Yuu's curled up form. The raven haired teen sleeps like he's protecting himself, bag held tightly in arms wrapped around himself and knees pulled in tight. It has to be uncomfortable, but how easily Yuu fell asleep in that position means it's probably what he's used to.

He reaches down and pulls the blanket back over Yuu before glancing out the window to catch sight of the moon. It's a full moon and sleep still seems a long way from him. _Is it really a good idea to bring Yuu?_ He's not sure, but it's a long trip and he wouldn't mind some company. Not to mention Yuu appeals to his softer side, the part of him that cares about others and wants a place to belong.

The other boy is all alone, but not nearly as off putting as he acts, just unaccustomed to companionship. Every time he touched Yuu casually or offered him food, that same apprehensive look would flash through his eyes. The look of someone who's never been shown kindness. It stirs something inside him. Something that makes him want to protect Yuu, show him that there's still some good in the world. Convincing Yuu to stay is his last thought as he finally drifts off.

~~~~~  
Mikaela wakes to Yuu poking him impatiently in the shoulder. Tired eyes look up to see the other boy frowning down at him. "You sleep too late."

"It was almost dawn when we got back," he murmurs and pulls the pillow over his head. "Go lay down or something."

"No, you said you'd pay me in the morning."

He peeks up at Yuu in exhaustion, "What time is it?"

"Don't know, I don't have a clock on my forehead."

Mikaela sighs, it's far too early to deal with this. "You really don't want to stay?"

"Nope!"

He motions for Yuu to crouch down and he props his head on the pillow to meet Yuu's gaze with sleepy eyes, "You don't have anywhere to go."

"You said that yesterday too."

"And it was true then too. Once I pay you, what happens? You go sleep on the streets again?" Yuu studies the wall behind his head blankly. "Starve? Drown?"

"What do you care anyway?!"

"I just do. What will you do?"

"Buy food, obviously."

"You'd rather have food than safety?"

"You're not safe! I saved _you!"_

"So, that means we work well together," Mikaela argues back.

"No! It doesn't mean that at all!"

"I could really use a travel companion."

"If you dye your hair black."

"...Absolutely not."

"You grab too much attention then. I like to stay hidden. It makes it easier."

"To steal?" He teases. Yuu sets his jaw stubbornly without responding. "You won't have to steal if you're with me."

"But people will remember me if I'm with you and that's bad for someone like me."

"Not if you aren't doing anything wrong."

"Can't you just give me the money?" Yuu sighs, sensing this might be a long battle.

"I can, but I really don't want to." He reaches out to place a cautious hand on Yuu's arm, "Please?"

Yuu recoils from him with a wary expression, "...O-only for a little while."

"Yes!" He beams at Yuu in excitement, squeezing his arm before turning over. "Now wake me up in two hours."

"What?"

"Still sleepy."

He hears Yuu huff and smiles as Yuu moves to the corner and pulls his blanket back around him, sticking his tongue out when he catches Mikaela looking at him. He buries his smile contentedly into his pillow, he'll drag Yuu with him to the Mages and back if he lets him.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

* * *

Yuu's eyes flick between the stalls of food hungrily. There are people everywhere in the packed area and stalls lining every free inch of the outside perimeter, all selling fresh food that makes his mouth water. This isn't the type of area he usually frequents, it only makes his stomach ache more when he's surrounded by food, but this time it's different. Someone brushes against his back and he flinches, ignoring the look of disgust he receives. That touch probably hurt him more than some dirt did the other person. He's not oblivious to the suspicious looks he's receiving, but for once he doesn't care. Mikaela said they were getting food here, so he can try whatever he wants.

It all smells delicious, the air a mixture of sweet desserts and savoury grilled foods, but what he really wants are the little cakes with the delicate frosting designs on top. Cakes are a luxury that he's never had the fortune to try more than twice in his life, but he's pretty sure he has a sweet tooth and he's badly wanted to try one of those fancy desserts. Maybe one with a strawberry on top too, just the thought makes his heart speed up with excitement.

Mikaela smiles in amusement at how excited Yuu is, it's both endearing and a little sad. He's well aware that he could have been Yuu if he didn't have any magic. Although he is curious about Yuu's circumstances, what happened to his parents? How long has he been alone? But they're not close enough that he can comfortably ask questions of that nature.

He trails after the raven haired boy, careful not to let the crowd separate them too much and to always keep him in sight. Some of the stall owners are shooting Yuu wary looks as he passes, no doubt making sure he doesn't try to make a grab for anything at their own stall. If only Yuu had taken a bath or at least attempted to try and clean himself up, instead the minute Yuu saw he was awake, he'd thrown off the blanket and demanded food, so here they are.

Making Yuu bathe isn't a priority...yet. Let him do what he wants for now, if Mikaela pushes him, he may decide it's not worth the trouble and leave. Maybe when Yuu looks less like a walking stick, he'll be more interested in being clean.

He does a quick mental count of the coins in his pouch, he did well last night despite his shift being cut short and not receiving his regular pay for the night. That combined with what he already had, if he plans carefully, should last him through the winter even with an extra person.

"Yuu-chan, what do you want to eat?" He questions, reaching forward to grab Yuu by the shoulder and slow him down.

"Cakes!"

"Cakes?"

"Yes! With strawberries on top."

He smiles at the sparkle in his eyes and can't help teasing him a bit, "That's not food, you need more than that. How about some of those curry buns?"

"Cake." Yuu fold his arms and glares at him defensively, "If you had paid me, I could have bought my own cakes."

Mikaela rolls his eyes, "Are you still talking about that? Let that go already." He pokes Yuu in the back and his hand is quickly slapped away, but he hands over a few silver coins anyway. "Buy what you want and _me_ some curry buns." Yuu's eyes light up once again and he wastes no time darting off directly to the sweets.

Walking away from the busy section of the food area, he wanders until he finds a semi isolated space with fewer people and lays down to wait. By his plan, if they leave now, they can probably get in a good month's worth of traveling before the weather changes too much to travel safely. A month should put them right in the middle of the Glacial Steppe, not the best place to stop since Winter will be the worst there. But, once it's over, there's only three weeks until they reach their destination versus waiting and arriving six months later. They can do it.

He glances up when a warm bag is dropped on his stomach and looks over to see Yuu sitting a safe distance away from him, still untrusting of him. "I spent all your money."

"I figured you would." Mikaela opens the bag on his stomach, curry buns, then looks at Yuu's hands, nothing but sweets. Expensive ones too. "You have a sweet tooth?"

"Maybe," he shrugs. "It's not like I had a chance to eat many before."

He sighs and hands Yuu one of his buns, "You need to eat at least one of these too."

"No thanks."

Mikaela grabs his wrist, ignoring how quickly Yuu stiffens, and wraps the other boy's fingers around the bun, "Eat it."

They stare at each other in the suddenly tense space before Yuu jerks his wrist away and Mikaela lets him, content as long as he's still holding onto the bun. His eyes watch as Yuu scoots away from him a little and takes a bite of the bun, eyeing him warily the entire time.

He nods in satisfaction and returns to his own meal, blatantly aware of the fleeting glances Yuu keeps sending his way.

"If you want someone to bring you food, you should stay in one place," Yuu states, finally breaking the silence. Apparently the other boy's decided to let it slide.

"I knew you would be able to find me, you seem to have a knack for finding 'trouble.' Right?"

"I'm starting to wish I never saw your shirt."

"Too late for regrets now," He stands up. "I have to go, try not to attract too much attention."

"Go where?"

"I have something to do."

"Do what?"

Mikaela gives him a disbelieving look, " _Things._ "

"Like what?"

He snatches a sweet from the pile in Yuu's lap, "Mind your own business!"

"Hey, that's mine!"

"Stay out of trouble. I'll meet you in front of the inn a few hours."

Yuu bristles at the command, "I still don't need to hear that from you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You saved _me,_ so on and so forth."

"And don't forget it!"

"I doubt you'll ever let me." Yuu nods and busies himself selecting a new treat, done with their conversation now that he's established himself. Before he leaves, Mikaela produces a single blue spark of magic and he brushes his fingers over Yuu's head with the slightest touch, depositing the spark and watching as it travels across his body until it embeds itself unnoticed in Yuu's skin. Just a single spark is all that's needed to make sure he can find Yuu again.

He heads outside of the city, stopping to collect a bucket of water before finding a secluded area to practice. So far, mastering the magic that will enable him to breathe underwater has not come easy. It's why he'd been at the stream when he first saw Yuu.

The only way to access the Mage's Kingdom is by water or air, both extremely efficient ways of keeping away outsiders. There's no way he can go by air, so water is his only option. From what he's been able to research, it seems there's a pool outside the valley with a long underwater cavern that ends inside the city. It's at least two miles long, so once you start swimming, you'll drown long before you reach either end if your magic isn't strong enough. And if Yuu stays with him all the way there, he'll be responsible for both of their lives.

Taking a breath, he plunges his head into the bucket, willing his magic to only allow the oxygen into his lungs. Blue sparks disperse into the water around his head and it seems to work for a few seconds. Then he takes a deeper breath and water fills his lungs. _This is impossible without proper guidance!_ Mikaela pulls out gasping, choking up water through his nose and mouth, resisting the urge to kick the bucket over.

Instead he shoots out his frustration in a blast of fire against a nearby tree. Mollified for the moment that he's not completely useless, even if uncontrolled blasts take almost no effort. Mikaela looks down towards the bucket and concentrates, focusing until the water bubbles into a boil.

He smiles in satisfaction before abruptly realizing he's just set the water he was using for practice to boiling.

"Think!" He chastises himself aloud, then kicks the bucket over, letting the scalding water seep into the ground. Snatching the bucket up, he returns to the city boundaries to refill it before setting up for practice again.

Mikaela sets his jaw and drops his head back in, he has to get this, it's the only way.

~~~~~  
Yuu wonders if the innkeeper will let him in alone if he manages to make it back as another heat flash passes through his body, the same way they have been since he finished eating. He wouldn't put it past someone to have poisoned those sweets he ate and unfortunately he ate _a lot._

Grimacing, Yuu takes another breath as more beads of sweat accumulate across his forehead. He thinks he's probably stupid to be walking when he feels like this, but he'd tried waiting it out and all he'd gotten for his efforts was an itching under his skin and the uncontrollable need to _move_.

And _Mikaela_ , that useless blonde, is nowhere to be found when he could actually use some help. Yuu gasps when one of his legs gives out, sending him stumbling to his knees. He groans in frustration, this is ridiculous. He's not this weak!

Using the wall as a brace, he's almost back to his knees when a shadow covers his face. He already knows this won't be good. Two guys looking a lot tougher than he probably looks right now are standing over him and he can't help wondering how many times he's going to have to fight people in this city. At this point, he's pretty sure he'd rather a small village, less food and all. At least there, there aren't so many people waiting to attack the minute you look vulnerable.

"Give us the bag."

"I don't have any money."

"That's not what I said."

Yuu grips his bag tighter to his side, "I don't have any money," he insists.

"Look kid," the bigger one says with an annoyed sigh, "You already look like you're about to die, so just hand it over. Besides we saw you with that blonde guy earlier, eating all those sweets. You can't afford those with no money."

And suddenly Yuu's furious at Mikaela _and_ at himself. Mikaela can be excused for not understanding, but he should have known better than to put himself in the spotlight like that. He'd been an orphan for years, he knows how things work. No doubt there were plenty of people watching them eat and while they wouldn't go after the blonde because of his obviously higher status, Yuu was free game. He _knew_ Mikaela was trouble! And he let himself be dragged along, forgetting all precaution and every instinct he'd gained over the past eight years.

Yuu clenches his fist, ready to win or die trying, and starts to get to his feet when a foot slams into his stomach and he _really_ starts to regret all those snacks. A hand quickly reaches into his pocket and Yuu smacks the offending arm away receiving another kick in return.

"Hold him down."

The blunt command puts Yuu's fight or flight instinct into high gear and he immediately swings out a leg, catching the pickpocket in the shin and pulling himself to his feet, still wheezing from his aching torso. There's no way he's going to get his ass kicked just laying on the ground.

He shakes away the numbness in his right fist and takes a breath as his eyes struggle to stay focused through the haze in his vision. He's aware of the rivulets of sweat dripping down his body and burning his back, the venomous looks directed towards him, and the fact that if he doesn't hold it together, he might not survive this.

The first fist comes sailing towards him, he's too slow to dodge and it catches him in the face. Pain blossoms across his cheek and in the next second, his fist feels like it's on fire. Searing pain in his veins that consumes his entire forearm, almost crippling him.

He doesn't have time to dwell on it when a second fist is coming towards his eye and on some instinct of self preservation that he didn't know he had, his own fist swings forward and connects first in a burst of green sparks.

Yuu stares at his fist in horror, pain momentarily forgotten. A scream and the smell of singed flesh brings him back to the present where the other boy's hands wave uselessly in front of the ruined half of his face.

Memories from his childhood come back and he finds himself involuntarily apologizing, "I-I'm sorry!"

Awareness dawns in their eyes which quickly fades to fear mixed with disgust. He follows their gazes back to his fist to see a few more green sparks flitting around his skin. _This hasn't happened before!_ Usually he can stop it, never in his eight years has his magic broken free from his control.

As they run from him, panic sets in when he realizes the burning sensation is steadily creeping up his arm, in just a few a seconds there's pain from fingertips to shoulder and Yuu desperately struggles to contain it. Each time he tries, the fiery sensation comes back stronger than before and emerald eyes widen with the knowledge that it's not going to stop. Yuu cries out, flailing his arm in the need to do _something_ , and his heartbeat goes triple time. Despite his rising body temperature, Yuu breaks out in a cold sweat, and the last thing he remembers is pain pulsating towards his heart before his mind surrenders.

~~~~~  
Mikaela stands in front of the inn, impatiently drumming his fingers along his arm. _Where is Yuu?_ He can't say he's surprised the black haired boy is late, but it's been almost an hour and he's already annoyed from having to fend off several advances. Apparently standing in front of an inn alone can only mean you're there for one thing.

He closes his eyes, enough waiting. If Yuu isn't here soon, they won't be able to leave at sunrise. Mikaela concentrates, using his senses to seek out that tiny spark of himself that he attached to Yuu, and lets himself be guided towards the pull. He weaves throughout the crowd and realizes he's heading right back to where he left the other boy. _Has Yuu been there eating the whole time?_

His magic pulls him towards another building and the first thing he sees is Yuu's skinny ankles poking out of his too short pants. Mikaela comes and stands over with a sigh, noticing the awkward position Yuu's laying and the tense expression he wears in his sleep. Either he's having a nightmare or Yuu got knocked unconscious.

Mikaela drops to his knees and props Yuu's head up in his lap, grimacing at the clumps of dirt he can feel in Yuu's hair. He draws the spark back to himself and tilts his head curiously. There's something different about it. When he transferred it to Yuu, it was a part of his own magic and now it feels almost foreign as it assimilates back to him, as if it mixed with something else. He glances back down at Yuu in speculation, _hmm…_

Yuu shifts and blinks up at him confusion, "Mikaela?"

"Mmhmm."

"What happened?"

"You passed out." Mikaela answers and lifts his hand to frown down at Yuu. "Your hair is filthy by the way. It's gross and full of clumps of dirt and oil."

"Well, don't touch it then!"

"You are taking a bath when we get back," he continues on. "Even if I have to drown you."

Yuu grunts and sits up, glancing around the corner they're in and his eyes widen then fly down to his arm when he remembers what happened. It doesn't look burned and he flexes his hand to be sure there's no damage. "Thank you," he breathes.

"Are you okay?"

Mikaela's looking at him weirdly and he quickly drops his hand, "Y-yeah I'm fine."

"Do you remember what happened?"

"No," he shakes his head quickly. "I started to feel dizzy then everything went black."

"Right."

Yuu ignores the other boy's skeptical look and stands up on shaky legs, "Let's go."

Mikaela escorts him back to the inn, likely to make sure he doesn't pass out again and it annoys him, he's not _weak._ It was a one time thing, he doesn't need to be treated like he's delicate. He thinks the blonde will leave once they reach the entrance, but he doesn't. Instead, he follows Yuu all the way to the bathing room, only departing when he's inside the room.

"I'm going to get supplies, so we can leave in the morning. We've caused too much trouble here."

Yuu nods and strips down once he's gone, eager to get it over with before someone else comes in. The first bucket of water he dumps over his head feels refreshing, even as he struggles to hold in his gasp of pain when the warm water rolls down the lacerations on his back. He cranes his neck backwards to see the discolored swollen ridges on his back and he curses quietly, they're not healing yet.

Careful to keep the soap away from his back as best he can, he quickly scrubs it through his hair and around every part of his body before rinsing himself off and escaping back to their room.

He has to admit, being clean again feels nice. He hadn't realized just how filthy he was until the dirt was gone, but his head feels much lighter now. It's been a while, things like that just don't seem to matter much when you're always hungry. But now that he's clean and not hungry for once, he's left to wonder, _Am I dying?_

His magic has never gone out of control like that before. It resisted him with more force than he knew was possible, ignoring what he wanted and guiding his fist to cause pain. Almost like he was possessed… _No_ , Yuu shakes his head. He won't go down that path, he's not evil. All those earlier symptoms that came before were from too many sweets and it made sense that he'd be weaker when he was sick. That's all it was, he tells himself. He was just too weak to properly control it.

He'll just have to do better. He told Mikaela he didn't remember and he has a feeling the blonde wouldn't appreciate being lied to, but he also doesn't want to be thrown aside just yet. If he can just hold it together until they get to somewhere safe where he can start over, it'll be fine, just long enough for him to make an identity as something other than an untrustable street orphan.

Sighing, he searches through his bag for his last remaining decent shirt before shoving the soiled one to the bottom of the bag until he has a chance to wash it. At least this one isn't stuck to his back. Now the only thing inside is two gourd canteens, his shirt, an extra pair of pants, and a few bronze coins he decided to keep rather than return to Mikaela. Scanty possessions, but all his.

Shutting the door to their room, he decides he'd rather go help Mikaela than stay there alone and brood. It doesn't take long to locate him, his blonde hair makes him extremely noticeable wherever he goes and Yuu comes to stand by his side only to be used as a packhorse.

"Here," Mikaela slides a heavy bag onto Yuu's shoulder and dumps three tightly bound woolen blankets into his arms. "Carry these."

"For how long?" Yuu questions, eyeing the various supplies Mikaela has beside him.

"Until winter's over, obviously."

"It's not even cold yet."

"Yuu-chan," he explains patiently. "It's better to be prepared than caught off guard."

"Yeah, but-"

"I don't think we'll encounter another city where we can get all these things again soon, we need to gather supplies."

"But, why do _I_ have to carry them all?"

"Because now I need twice as many and you're not paying for anything, are you?"

"..."

"Exactly! So, just carry the bags and be glad I'm taking care of you!"

Yuu glares down at the blankets in his arms, "Just _where_ do you expect us to be during Winter?"

"Who knows? We may get caught in a blizzard while walking, weather changes suddenly," he answers vaguely.

Yuu makes some snarky remark, but he's no longer listening. Instead he's quickly running through his mental list to make sure he hasn't forgotten anything. Blankets, warm clothing, sturdy shoes, eight weeks worth of dried food, that should be the bare minimum that they need to survive because the less things they have to carry, the better.

"Hey Mikaela, can we take some sweets before we go?" Yuu asks as he takes in the choice of food Mikaela's loading them up with.

"No, not this time. Sweets won't last and I have to plan carefully."

As his eyes once again roam over all the supplies Mikaela has picked out, Yuu starts to get the niggling suspicion that the blonde has not been entirely honest with him. "Mikaela, how far are we going?"

"Not that far."

"Then why do we need all these supplies?"

"I already told you, it's better to be prepared."

"For _what_?" Yuu presses.

Blue eyes pin him with a look, "We're going to see the Mages," and Yuu feels his stomach drop. That's the last place he needs to be.

"You never said that!"

"You never asked," he counters with a shrug.

"What do you want to go see those jerks for? They've never helped out regular people like us."

Mikaela gives him a speculative look, "I have my reasons, but...if you really don't want to come, you don't have to."

Yuu glances away from the other boy's pleading gaze, already knowing he doesn't _really_ want to separate just yet. Mikaela might not be the best company and a little too forward for his liking, but he also seems to genuinely _care_ and that's a rare thing. He can count the amount of people he's cared about on one hand. Besides...he's bought enough food to last weeks. It wouldn't be so bad to see where they go and he can always ditch him when they get close to the Mages anyway. It's actually a win for him whether he follows through on the whole trip or not.

"I may not go the whole way."

"That's okay, I don't mind if you only come half way."

He sighs, agreeing with a slight nod, and Mikaela breaks into a brilliant grin full of delight before reaching over to squeeze him into a hug and rub his cheek in Yuu's hair. "You look and smell so much better!"

Yuu flushes and squirms out of the blonde's grip, ignoring the heat in his face from the pleasure Mikaela's smile brought him, and scowls over at him, "I didn't do it for you!"

"I know, but I can still appreciate it."

He reaches out to ruffle his hair and Yuu expertly evades his hand, "Hands to yourself, you kumquat!"

Mikaela laughs and grabs him by the strap on his shoulder, dragging him down the street, "Come on, squeaky clean, we've got a long way to go!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

* * *

Yuu proves to be a silent walking companion and he has the distinct feeling that the other boy is still wary of him. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if Yuu _only_ came along because of the amount of food he bought.. Not that he could blame him, survival, no matter what it takes, is the basic human extinct.

It's the beginning of Autumn now which means the days are still warm, but getting cooler and the scenery is beautiful. Warm colors and clear skies, he considers the perfect weather a good luck for their journey.

They've been traveling a few days now, encountering very few people coming from the direction they're heading and it's actually pretty boring. Walk all day, stop for a few meals, sleep at night, rinse, repeat. They're making good time and Yuu doesn't complain about all the walking, but he wishes the other teen would at least _try_ to talk with him. Otherwise, it's going to be a very long and silent six weeks.

"Snake," Yuu's monotone voice warns him and he makes an awkward half step to the side to avoid the slithering creature while Yuu doesn't even break his stride.

"You know, it's okay to talk to me, Yuu-chan."

"And what do I have to talk to you about?"

"Anything! Your favorite color, favorite food, what you're thinking about…"

"I'm not thinking anything."

"But you're so quiet all the time, I know you have to be thinking about something."

Yuu shrugs, "I mainly think about the next meal and how I'm glad we have enough water."

"That's it?" Mikaela sighs, "I wanted a companion."

"And you got one, you never said talking was part of the deal."

"I know, I just thought...nevermind."

Emerald eyes glance over towards him, then look away when he doesn't respond, unbothered by his lack of explanation and Mikaela's left to acknowledge that what he was hoping to have from Yuu was friendship, not just a walking partner. Though it doesn't seem like Yuu has any interest in progressing their relationship anywhere beyond two people traveling together out of convenience. He frowns and picks up his pace to match Yuu's unwavering stride.

Yuu sighs as Mikaela matches his pace in silence. When he said he hadn't been thinking, that was a lie. He's been doing more thinking that he cares to admit, mostly about the blonde beside him. While, yes, he did agree to come with him because the benefits outweigh the cons, it looks like Mikaela wants more from him than he's prepared to give. He hasn't been able to make up his mind on whether he can trust Mikaela or if he's just another fleeting person in his short life.

In he is, there's no point trying to connect with him when he won't be around long. He thinks _Mikaela_ intends to stick around with all his efforts to make conversation and get to know him. The other boy hasn't given up yet and he knows he's not making it easy. But, _he's_ still planning to leave before they reach the Mages, he's not going to willingly let them find out about him, who knows what punishment they might exact on him for no fault of his own.

"You want to stop for lunch?"

He glances over to where Mikaela's looking at him with a patient expression and nods, following him over to a clear spot a little ways away from the dirt road. He drops the heavy bags from his back and stretches his aching muscles. He doesn't mention it to Mikaela whenever the other boy asks if he needs a rest, but those bags are heavy. His back is always sore, especially after he wakes up in the morning with muscles stiff from no movement and the cooler nights. Moving again is almost a blessing even with his constantly sore feet. His shoes are so thin, they provide almost no protection from the hard ground.

As for his back, well he's padded his extra pair of pants under his shirt to keep the weight from rubbing it too raw and it seems to help. It still hurts like hell, but at least it's not bleeding anymore. Yuu nudges his share of the bags out of the way with a sigh, still so full, meaning they have a long way to go. The lighter the bags, the closer they are to their destination and right now it doesn't seem like they'll ever get any lighter.

Yuu pulls out his canteen and accepts the two dried fruit stuffed onigiri made with leftover rice from yesterday's dinner. It might not seem like much to some people, but having three meals a day, no matter how plain, is a welcome change for him. The first night Mikaela had boiled water for rice, he was shocked. Somehow it had never occurred to him that Mikaela might have any kind of survival skills. In fact, he hadn't given much thought at all to how they would prepare food. He certainly hadn't been able to help, he'd never cooked a day in his life and with that came the realization that he was in no way prepared for a journey this long. The most he typically went was a few days between cities, weeks on end is a whole new experience.

But, he hates being dependent on other people, so he's doing his absolute best to watch what the other boy does and store the knowledge for future use. Mikaela waves another onigiri in front of his face and when Yuu reaches for it, he pulls it away, getting a glare in return.

"Don't look at me like that, I've been calling your name."

"Well, clearly it wasn't important," Yuu retorts, folding his arms.

"It is," he tosses the food towards him and Yuu scrambles to catch it before it hits the ground. "Yuu-chan, why did you help me?"

"What?" He grumbles around a mouthful of rice.

"Why did you help me back in the city?"

"I was just returning the favor, don't think too much of it."

"But you didn't _have_ to, you could have just continued walking and avoided the danger."

Yuu gives a sigh of annoyance, "You didn't have to give me food, but you did. Why did _you?_ "

"That's different," Mikaela shakes his head. "No one was around who could hurt me and you looked like you could use some help."

"Same, they might have killed you if I hadn't stepped in." And it's true, he had been returning the favor, but at the same time, he had thought it would be a shame if one of the few decently nice people he'd met ended up dead. The world could do with a little more kindness it. Although, he's curious as to how _Mikaela_ ended up with that kind of trouble. "Why were they after you anyway?"

"Oh...um…" the blonde shifts uncomfortably and glances away before murmuring, "They thought I stole some money."

"And did you?"

"Not really."

"And you call me a thief!" Yuu jabs a finger in his direction, "You have no right to talk!"

"I said, not really!" He protests.

"Stealing is stealing Mikaela! It doesn't matter who you are or how you do it."

"Nobody missed the money, they didn't even know it was gone!"

Yuu rolls his eyes at the other boy's complete lie. " _Everyone_ misses their money, you can't get far without it. But, hey, I'm not judging you and you have no right to judge me either."

"I never did."

"You didn't even want to travel with me because you said I was a thief!"

"You stole my shirt!" He counters. "I had to get to know you first."

"You still don't know me."

"Well enough."

"Not even close," Yuu scoffs. "I wasn't pampered liked you, we're completely different."

Mikaela gazes back at him with a knowing look in his eyes that Yuu can read, but not decipher, "Not as much as you might think."

"Doesn't matter." He's not going to waste his time arguing with this spoiled blonde. Yuu shoves the last bit of food in his mouth and hefts the bag back onto his sore shoulders. "I've got places to be, can't keep this slow pace you've set."

Yuu turns back towards the road as Mikaela scrambles to gather his stuff and chase after him. _I'll be the one to set our boundaries and pace_ , Yuu thinks smugly.

~~~~~  
Mikaela curses as he stumbles over a rock, scowling at Yuu's smile that he catches in his peripheral vision. He'd been side eyeing the other boy instead of watching the ground because Yuu hadn't deigned him important enough to speak more than one word at a time to for the past few days. He's so aggravating, so stubborn and closed off, unwilling to even _try_ to form a friendship. But he's just as stubborn as Yuu is and he's not quite ready to give up yet.

Although, he's not opposed to messing with Yuu just a little considering the other boy ignores him most of the time now. His eyes glance to the side, mouth widening into a smile at the purple fruit weighing down the tree branches. It feeds off magic, so the fruit is almost nonexistent the farther you travel away from the Mages. From what he's heard, a lot of things change the closer you travel to their kingdom.

This particular fruit, called a lucin, is known to give you vivid illusions if you eat enough of it uncooked, though he's betting Yuu doesn't know that. Mikaela steps away from the road and quickly plucks a few and tucks them into the side of his bag, leaving one out that he hands to Yuu.

Emerald eyes peer between him and the tree suspiciously and he nods in encouragement. "Why are we eating random fruit? You bought enough."

"Oh, so now you're talking to me?"

Yuu raises his chin, "When you're holding us up, of course I'm going to ask questions."

"It never hurts to conserve and forage for food where we can, just because we brought food doesn't mean we should ignore our resources."

He watches Yuu turn the fruit over in his hands, studying it critically, "What is it?"

"It's a lucin, a type of fruit that needs magic to thrive. It apparently tastes like bitter vanilla."

Yuu wrinkles his nose, "That sounds gross."

"We can't afford to be picky, Yuu-chan. I'll probably mix it in with dinner tonight." He reaches for the fruit, "If you don't want it, I'll save it, but we're not stopping for another break for a while."

"I didn't say I didn't want it!" Yuu protests, quickly stepping out of range and taking a large bite before Mikaela can take away his snack. He chews slowly, "Well, it's not terrible, but definitely not sweet enough for a dessert. Yeah," Yuu nods, taking another bite, "Needs sugar."

"Yet, you're still eating it."

"Can't waste food," he shrugs. Mikaela smiles in response as Yuu's eyes begin to widen in confusion. "What…?"

"Yes, Yuu-chan?" He questions, blinking in wide eyed innocence.

"You…" Yuu drops the fruit to the ground and kicks it away, "What was in that?"

"What do you mean? It was just fruit."

"No, it wasn't." he argues weakly, eyes flicking rapidly back and forth at unseen images.

Mikaela leans in to peer at him, "Are you okay, Yuu-chan? You're starting to sweat a little."

Yuu reaches out to grab his shirt clumsily, "I'd murder you right now if I could feel my body," he spits out through clenched teeth.

"And if you weren't hallucinating too, right?" He chuckles at the furious look Yuu sends him, "What do you see?"

"Colors...animals...the ground is...talking to me."

"Really? What's it saying?" Mikaela questions with barely suppressed laughter.

"Stop stepping on its face."

"That does sound about right," he laughs, peeling Yuu's fingers off his shirt. "Did you apologize?"

"No! I'm not going to apologize to the ground! Why's it so hot?" Yuu drops to the ground, yanks his bag off and begins struggling to pull his shirt off.

"...What are you doing?"

"The ground said I'd be cooler if I took my clothes off," he answers, giving up and tugging at his pants instead.

Mikaela grabs his hands, "You can't take your clothes off in the middle of the road, Yuu-chan!"

Emerald eyes stare at him for a few seconds before he nods, "The ground said I could and it's his road."

"The ground can't talk, you're hallucinating."

" _No_ , you are, watch out for that giant bird behind you. It might claw your head off."

Mikaela whips around to see nothing except a clear sky and trees, by the time he turns back around, Yuu's got his pants halfway down his legs and he's really starting to think that fruit was a bad idea. "Ow!" He glares at the raven haired boy as Yuu attempts to kick his hands away again. "Put your pants back on!"

Yuu gives up on getting his pants over his shoes and collapses on his side with an ear to the ground, "You think I should listen to you just because you're cute? I shouldn't even be here."

"You think I'm cute?"

The other teen gives him a critical look for a brief second before whatever illusions he can see regain his attention, "Not as beautiful as the colors, but you could be uglier."

"Well, thanks I don't think you're too ugly either. A little stinky and thin, but you could smell worse."

Yuu shoots him a dirty look, "I'm going to fly away and leave you here to walk alone."

"Really?" He raises an eyebrow and attempts to pry Yuu's head away from the ground, but he's quickly swatted away.

"Shhh!" Yuu presses his head harder to the ground, "Someone's coming!"

"What?"

"The ground told me, someone's on their way."

Mikaela quickly stands, glancing both directions for any sign of travelers. He doesn't _see_ any and Yuu could still be hearing things, but there's also a chance his magic could be giving him a warning. He looks back down at Yuu, half-dressed and barely moving with dilated pupils. They can't take the risk. For anyone passing by, this looks bad no matter how you spin it and with Yuu like this, they're far too vulnerable in the middle of the road if it's enemies approaching.

He dumps their bags out of sight, then elbowing Yuu's hand out of the way and ignoring his protests and complaints of the heat, he yanks the other boy's pants up the best he can and starts dragging him by the biceps towards cover, sending out thanks that they're not out in the open and there are options for shelter.

He grunts, yanking Yuu the last few feet into the cover of the brush and collapses with Yuu's dead weight falling on his legs. For someone so scrawny, he's hella heavy to drag and it's really starting to make him regret convincing Yuu to eat that fruit.

"You're comfortable."

"Huh?" Mikaela glances down to where Yuu's positioned himself so his head is resting against his torso. "This is nice," Yuu sighs out. He laughs quietly and rests his hand on Yuu's head, scratching lightly and he's almost positive the other teen lets out a content purr before his breathing evens out.

Mikaela lays there, debating on whether to move or just rest too. It's been so long since he's had another person's warmth next to him for comfort. The last time was when he was still in the orphanage before the other kids began to notice something different about him, before his magic was new and uncontrollable. He wasn't allowed to be kicked out of the orphanage, but that didn't mean he was accepted. The past years have been lonely ones, from being an outcast at the orphanage to keeping others at a distance for his own safety.

Maybe that's another reason why he was eager to keep Yuu with him once he realized the other boy had some good in him and no one else to turn to. The people who ran the orphanage always said he had a penchant for taking care of others and in the beginning he used to help out in the nursery, but that was a long time ago. He only has himself to care for now.

The sound of footsteps and carts pull him from his musings and he thinks on the fact that Yuu was right. Whether it was his magic or something else, he's not sure, but he's thankful that he and Yuu's dead weight are out of sight. The voices don't sound particularly hostile, but that also doesn't mean they would have believed him had he said it was all just a silly joke.

Sighing, he shifts Yuu's weight off him and onto the ground as their voices fade. There's nothing to do until Yuu wakes up, so he may as well study a bit. He sifts through his bag until he comes up with a small book filled with pages of handwritten notes comprised of any scrap of knowledge about magic he happened to discover, from hidden books to rumors, anything that might be of use to him. Now, would be the perfect time to add what he's learned about Yuu in. Maybe someday soon, the other boy will actually willingly share information with him.

Not long after, he hears Yuu stirring and the other boy wakes with a groan. He sits up in confusion, looking around blankly until his eyes land on Mikaela and Yuu's expression immediately changes to one of anger. "You did that on purpose!"

There's no point denying it now, "You shouldn't have left me," he replies simply.

" _That's_ why you tricked me into eating that fruit?" Yuu questions in disbelief.

"I didn't trick you," he replies, tucking his book away and pulling his bag back on. "You chose to eat it."

"That's because I didn't know it was poisonous!"

"It wasn't, but it _is_ a fruit that feeds off magic. They usually have side effects."

Yuu huffs and grabs his own bag, "Why is there magic fruit out here anyway?"

"The closer we get to the Mages, the more magic there is that has leaked out. It doesn't always like to be controlled, so it spills into the environment and changes things."

"That would have been good to know beforehand!"

He shrugs, "I can't help what you don't know, Yuu-chan."

"You're such a jerk."

Mikaela open his mouth to respond, but his ears perk up instead at the distant rumble he hears, "What's that noise?"

"How should I know?" Yuu answers crossly. "You're the one full of secrets and knowledge."

Mikaela rolls his eyes and peers back towards the road where he can hear the sound getting louder before what looks like some kind of transportation machine comes into view. It hovers several feet off the ground, is silver in color, and seems to be made with simplicity in design. There are two wheels in the front and one in the back and it gives off red sparks of magic as two men riding it settle towards the ground. He's never seen anything like it and he can't help staring in awe at how easily they control the machine. Some people still have trouble getting their carts to go in the desired direction.

" _Whoa,_ what is _that?_ " Yuu gasps, coming to stand beside him and peer at the strangers.

He quickly claps a hand over Yuu's mouth, "Shh!"

The first man who looks to be the driver gets off with a vaguely irritated expression on his face. He's tall with broad shoulders and vibrant red hair framing his face, leading down into a long braid. Mikaela feels Yuu shudder beside him and he glances over, but Yuu's expression has completely closed off. The red head faces the second man who has yet to stop talking and wears a wide grin. This man seems to be the complete opposite of the first, slender with long silver hair tied back in a ponytail, an open cheery smile, and a confident ease to his movements.

If the strange machine wasn't evidence enough, their clothes clearly mark them as being Mages. Everyone else wears simple loose pants and shirts in various styles depending on the weather, but these two wear boots, tighter clothes in vivid colors unsuitable for any sort of labor. He even catches sight of a few chains, not to mention the red haired one wears a cloak tied around his shoulders, far more extravagant than the average person would wear and even less places would make them. Apparently the Mages' like of frivolous things was true.

Mikaela snaps back to attention when the broader man raises his arm and chops down with the side of his hand directly into the talkative man's neck. The smile is wiped off the shorter man's face immediately as he grabs his neck with a grimace of pain. "Stop with your nonsense, Ferid," he sighs.

"My apologies, Crowley."

" _Lord_ Crowley. I only let you ride with me because you said you would behave."

"And I have!" Ferid responds with another rub to his neck.

"Causing chaos amongst the townspeople is not behaving."

He chuckles lightly, "I was just giving them a little excitement in their boring lives."

"This is why they fear us."

"They should, we are Mages after all." Another smile breaks out as Mikaela catches a flash of magic, then Ferid's standing taller again, neck apparently fully healed.

"You will not be in my quarters tonight," Crowley states flatly.

"Eh?! After that minor indiscretion?"

"No, but also because I'm tired and I can't tolerate your presence for longer than I must." He turns away from him and swings one leg over the machine again as it sparks red again. "I should make you walk."

"But, I might get lost, then who would take care of you?"

"Anyone could do a better job than you and quieter too."

"So mean," Ferid pouts.

Crowley gestures behind him, "Let's go, but I am serious. Don't show your face for a while once we return."

The other man swings a leg over and settles behind him without answering, although the smug grin on his face makes it perfectly clear he has no intention of obeying his Lord and that he's confident enough to think he can get away with it.

"I agree with the Crowley guy," Yuu mumbles, yanking Mikaela's hand away from his mouth. "I can't tolerate your presence either."

Mikaela glances at him with a half smile, "That's not what you were saying a little while ago when you were falling asleep on me."

His reaction is instantaneous, Yuu flares up red and points menacingly at him, "That doesn't count! You gave me crazy fruit!"

"It wasn't crazy fruit," he laughs.

"Whatever it was, it made me think weird things, so none of it matters."

"I don't think you need much help with that, but whatever you say."

"Stop laughing!" Yuu shoves him out of the way. "I should abandon you at the next town."

"Uh huh, we'll see about that." He steps out of the cover of trees once the two strangers have disappeared off into the distance and beckons Yuu out. "Let's go, it's clear! We have to make up time unless you can summon a giant winged bird to carry us."

"Shut _up,_ " Yuu growls, following after him and Mikaela can't help smirking. He got to see another side of the sour raven haired teen and it was surprisingly enough... _cute._ Mikaela files the thought away, more material to tease Yuu about later.

~~~~~  
Flames crackle and soothe his tired stiff legs as Yuu sits close to the fire for warmth. The nights are getting chillier and soon the small fire will die down and he'll have to bundle up for warmth. There's no point adding more twigs this late at night, hopefully soon he'll manage to fall asleep. His spinning thoughts are probably what's keeping from being able to sleep, but he can't slow them down.

He's still so confused as to what he's doing here _and_ with the same person after a few weeks together. Honestly, he's surprised that Mikaela has stuck with him for this long, he knows he's not the easiest person to be around and while he may not talk to the blonde much, his presence has already become familiar, the subtle comfort in knowing Mikaela's never far from him.

That there's someone who expects him to be there and who might actually miss him if he's gone, it's both a novel and dangerous feeling, not a feeling he wants to get used to knowing. Spurning Mikaela at every chance he gets comes easily, yet he can't deny there's some sort of tenuous relationship forming. He wouldn't call it friendship and he's pretty sure the blonde feeding him has a large part to do with any sort of fond feelings he's developing, but something's there. Maybe… it's the beginnings of trust between them.

Yuu looks down to where Mikaela lays beside him, a little further away from the fire and wrapped up warm in his bedding. Resting as carefree as a newborn baby, secure in his confidence that he won't be betrayed in his sleep. He's far too trusting, but it's been a few weeks. Mikaela probably figures if Yuu was going to do something, he already would have, and he kinda has a point. He might not be overly fond of the blonde, but he doesn't wish him harm.

If only he could be that trusting.

He stares at the sleeping teen and can't help admiring the way the firelight illuminates his features, the way the light casts shadows on curve of his cheek and highlights the smoothness of his forehead, a sign of stress free sleep. Yuu tentatively reaches a hand down to curl his finger around one soft blonde curl and tugs lightly. Mikaela doesn't even stir. Yuu shakes his head at how deeply asleep and unaware of his surroundings the other boy is before gently placing the curl back and reaching out to touch the other boy's cheek.

His finger barely brushes against skin when he stops himself at the sight of his dirt caked fingers and Yuu yanks his hand back in embarrassment. It's not his fault he's filthy. He'd tried to bathe again, but his back stung so painfully that being clean wasn't worth the effort. But now, for some annoying reason, he's wishing he'd tried harder.

Yuu curls his hands back into his lap and grimaces, wondering what the hell he was thinking. No one has ever wanted to keep him around before and he's let the fact that Mikaela seems to want him here lull him into a false sense of comfort. He would never have tried that with anyone else he'd met so far. Then again, no one else would have left themselves exposed to him in such a way. A few weeks together and his defenses are already coming down, he has to pull it together.

With another look in his traveling companion's direction, Yuu scoots a bit away putting some distance between them as he feels his hands start to tingle again. A quiet curse and Yuu shoves them under his thighs, concentrating on forcing the magic back down. It looks like his control hasn't improved at all. In fact, it's worse if the light sheen of sweat on his face from the effort of forcing his magic down means anything.

He lays back on the ground to calm his racing heart and shivering body. At this rate he's not sure how much time he has left before he dies or completely loses control and honestly he wouldn't mind so much it being the former. At least then he wouldn't have to deal with the aftermath and he'd be free of this place altogether. It's not like he'd be missing much.

As another shiver racks his body and his back stings, Yuu turns onto his side to stare towards the road, already knowing he probably won't get much sleep tonight.

~~~~~  
Mikaela sits against a tree idly flicking sparks of magic at Yuu's back and watching him tense up with clenched fists, then relax until he flicks another spark at him and the process repeats. He hadn't meant to torment Yuu like this, but the other boy has been gradually fading over the past few days, the circles under his eyes getting darker and darker while his pace slows throughout the day.

Yuu hasn't told him what's wrong or complained, but he could tell that the other teen desperately needed a break. They're lucky rivers are plentiful in their region, so they never run out of fresh drinking water. Yuu leans heavily against another tree, taking small sips from his canteen and Mikaela watches the shallow rise and fall of his chest. He really does look awful and it makes no sense, they eat three times a day and rest at night, there's no reason Yuu should be suffering so much...unless he's hiding something.

He had hoped if he agitated Yuu enough this way, the other teen might finally break and tell him what was wrong, but so far no luck.

The wind shifts and Mikaela wrinkles his nose at the smell it carries from Yuu. They've been traveling days and Yuu has, again, avoided taking a bath the entire time. It's not cold yet, so day in and day out of traveling and the smell is really starting to get to him. Anytime he takes a dip in the river, Yuu just stretches out with their belongings and takes a nap, no matter how much he tries to persuade him otherwise. Speaking of which, Yuu barely looks like he has the strength to stand, let alone resist. Even if a bath doesn't help whatever's hurting Yuu, at least it'll save his nose.

Yuu starts when Mikaela strips down to his underwear, tosses his clothes aside, and stares him down. For the most part, he does his best to look everywhere but at Mikaela's sun-kissed pale skin and the way it's dusted with fine blonde hair or the definition in his stomach and legs. He really wished the blonde would get in the water or put some clothes back on.

"It's been long enough, you smell awful and you're taking a bath."

He shakes his head stubbornly and peeks at Mikaela in his peripheral vision when he huffs. It's not that he dislikes baths, but he hasn't always had the chance to take one, so he's kind of gotten used to going without. Food was always the bigger priority plus now his back hurts every time water touches it, so it's definitely not something he's interested in and now he's been so tired lately. Whenever they're not walking, all he wants to do is rest. Although, from the set of Mikaela's shoulder, he might not back down this time. "Lay off, I said I don't want to right now," Yuu mumbles back tiredly.

"You don't have a choice."

"I appreciate the concern," Yuu responds, "But, I've been taking care of myself this long and I think I've done a pretty good job."

Mikaela stills, eyes narrowed in concentration, and suddenly he's right in front of Yuu, leaving him blinking confusion at how quickly Mikaela's position changed. He hadn't even seen him move.

"How'd you do that?" Yuu exclaims, jumping up and stepping back from him.

"Do what? I just walked."

"No, you didn't! One second you were there," he points back towards Mikaela's previous spot. "And then you were here!"

"Maybe you just weren't paying attention," he shrugs, reaching for Yuu's shirt. Yuu jerks out of the way and Mikaela's fingers slide along his back instead causing a flinch of pain and an involuntary gasp to rip free. He peeks behind him in the hope that Mikaela missed it, but the second he turns, blue eyes lock on his and immediately Mikaela's right behind him, yanking his shirt up.

"Hey, stop!" Yuu exclaims, struggling to get free and confused at how Mikaela keeps moving so fast.

His gaze rakes over Yuu's back with wide eyes, taking in the bright red, infection swollen lacerations that are no doubt the source of Yuu's pain, "What the hell is this, Yuu-chan?!"

"Stop calling me that stupid nickname!" Yuu snatches his shirt back and stalks away with flushed cheeks, furious at himself for letting Mikaela get a hold of him and embarrassed that his wounds have been discovered.

Mikaela regards him with that caring look he hates so much and he looks away, "Why didn't you say something?"

"It's none of your business!"

"What happened?"

"I just told you!"

"..." Mikaela appraises him for a moment, "Fine, don't tell me, but we're cleaning them."

"I said I'm fine," Yuu responds through gritted teeth.

"Is this why you haven't bathed? Because they're infected?"

"Mind your own business. We're just walking together."

"Yuu-chan…"

"They burn, okay! Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"That's because they're infected and your filthy shirt isn't helping." Mikaela kneels in the grass, digging through his bag for a knife before gesturing Yuu over. Yuu glances at the knife in his hand warily and shakes his head. " _Now._ "

"What are you going to do with that knife?"

"You'll find out if you get over here and quit being a baby."

"Mikaela…"

"I'm not going to let you walk around with your back like that anymore, we need to fix it."

Yuu sends up a silent prayer to the universe and drops down in front of Mikaela, already knowing it's going to hurt. "Hey!" He protests when his shirt is peeled off and tossed aside. He only has one other, the blonde could at least try to care a little.

"You can have one of mine," he answers dismissively.

Mikaela slowly leans him onto his side, careful of his back and when the knife slices into the first section of swollen skin, Yuu locks his jaw, refusing to make a sound. Mikaela is gentle as can be when he cuts into each of the lacerations in turn, pressing lightly until the infection runs out little by little. It's still painful though, and Yuu finds himself burying his face in the ground with tight fists to hide his expression from the other boy.

Glancing down to make sure Yuu's not paying attention, Mikaela uses one hand to grip Yuu's shoulder and the other to pull water from the river with a swirl of his hand, guiding it to run down Yuu's back in a quick stream, clearing away anything extra, so he can see that the entirety of the infection is gone. Yuu hisses and jerks in his hold, but doesn't attempt to break away, resigned to his fate.

Once it's clear, he lets his hand slide up toward Yuu's head to card his fingers through the sweaty strands soothingly. Yuu's so surly, so hard to get close to and bond with. He keeps to himself, but he's horrible at hiding his emotions, most of what he's feeling in a particular moment is reflected across his face. The only thing is, he can't always read the thoughts behind the feelings, so even that isn't always the most helpful.

"That's not where it hurts," Yuu mumbles.

"I know." He glances down to see Yuu glaring up at him balefully with red rimmed eyes on a face streaked with mud from where tears and dirt have mingled. "Feel better?" Yuu doesn't bother responding and he sighs with a shake of his head, "Come on." He slips into the water and gestures Yuu over with a handful of soap.

"Haven't you caused me enough pain?"

"There's always room for more," he quips back. "Come here."

Yuu sits up with a grunt and peels off the rest of his clothes, annoyingly aware of Mikaela's eyes on him the whole time, before joining him in the river and wading into the middle. He flinches at the sting of soap on his broken skin and wishes Mikaela would hurry up rather than trying to be careful, pain is pain and the faster this is over, the better.

Mikaela glances from the tense line of Yuu's shoulders to his own hands tingling with the need to heal the other boy's red skin. Honestly, his back already looks a lot better and now that the infection is out, he could probably heal on his own, except they don't have time to wait for that and he doesn't want to risk Yuu neglecting to keep it clean and the whole situation repeating itself. So, he decides that Yuu is trustworthy enough.

He leads Yuu over to the river's edge and has him lean over, bracing his hands against the ground as the water swirls around them, just barely reaching mid-chest. His palms begin to glow gently and warm in preparation, but he doesn't get within two inches of Yuu's skin before the other boy looks back over his shoulder and his eyes widen at the subtle blue glow emanating from Mikaela's fingers, "You can _heal?!_ "

"I can," he answers with a slight smile.

"Then why didn't you just heal me instead of dragging it out?" Yuu exclaims.

"I can heal shallow wounds and mend the skin, but if I tried to heal you with your back like that, it would have sealed the infection inside and you probably would have died." Fairly quickly, now that he knows the infection is what was hindering Yuu so strongly.

"Oh."

"Yeah, now turn around."

Yuu braces himself and Mikaela presses his palms flat against his skin, concentrating on knitting the skin back together and erasing any lingering traces of infection.

Involuntarily, Yuu's body relaxes as the coolness seeps into his back, taking away the last remnants of pain. He can't help a quiet sigh when the sensation changes to a soothing warmth as his back tingles with healing magic.

He could stay here forever with Mikaela's palms against him sending soothing waves like warm honey through him. Mikaela must have the same idea because the next second arms wrap around his waist, pulling him firmly against the other boy's chest and he feels the blonde nosing into his neck, inhaling deeply.

Yuu freezes, hands dangling limply as he stands there stiffly. He _knew_ he shouldn't have let Mikaela get this close to him. _This_ is why he keeps the other boy at a distance because without knowing too much about him, somehow he could still tell that Mikaela would take more liberties than he was given. And the worst part about it, is that he _likes_ it. Not the invasion of his personal space, but the comfort of another person especially given that it's Mikaela.

No matter how much he tries to fight it down, he's not immune to the fact that he finds Mikaela attractive, beautiful even, but that's all he has going for him in Yuu's eyes, so he hates how nice this is. It makes him want to drive his elbow back into the other boy's stomach, but then he'd move and he's not sure he wants that either.

Mikaela exhales deeply against his neck and Yuu's hand's spark. He looks down in horror at his rapidly warming hands and quickly submerges them underwater, hoping the other boy didn't see. Mikaela may have magic, but he's still not willing to let anyone know about his weak, yet uncontrollable magic. For all he knows, Mikaela might adhere to the Mages' teachings and consider him evil too.

Yuu wiggles out of the other boy's arms and settles against the bank as Mikaela drifts away from him. He glances down at his hands again, relieved that their calm again. It's starting to make sense now, Mikaela seems to be the trigger to when his magic becomes uncontrollable. Nothing like that ever used to happen until they met, meaning the blonde's even more trouble than he anticipated.

But, at least one good thing came out of it, his back is nearly fully healed now and there's no longer any pain after weeks of suffering. Mikaela has powerful magic, now he understands the reason for this trip a lot better and why Mikaela doesn't seem worried about the Mages turning them away. Well...they won't turn _Mikaela_ away, but Yuu's pretty sure he won't get past the entrance.

Yuu glances back at the blonde one final time, still annoyed at him for taking liberties and clueless as to what his thoughts were, before sinking underwater and letting the river clean his hair. He'll have to keep a closer eye on the blonde from now on.

Mikaela's not unaware of the way Yuu's gaze lingers on him warily. He'd be more worried if he didn't already know that Yuu possessed some scrap of magic himself. So, as it stands, the other boy can't be too afraid of him, if at all. He's almost sure the source of Yuu's burning gaze is how close they were after he healed Yuu's back, maybe a little _too_ close, but for that one moment, the temptation was too great to ignore.

A slave to his own wants, it's not unexpected that he would develop some desire to be close to the other teen, even given his rough personality. Traveling together all this time brings them closer together whether Yuu wants to admit or not, besides it was only a hug, nothing too intrusive. Yuu probably craves touch just as much as he does, plus he's a little lonely. Even so, he's aware that Yuu has to come to him first, pushing him won't amount to anything.

He smiles quietly at the remembrance of how quickly Yuu tensed when he leaned into his neck, that was probably bending their boundaries more explicitly than he should have, but he doesn't regret it. Yuu had smelled so nice and warm, earthy and pleasant now that his natural scent was free from the layers of dirt and sweat he had accumulated over the past days of travel. It was a scent he enjoyed rubbing his nose in, for Yuu not so much.

One day soon, he'll crack open Yuu's shell before their time together ends.

~~~~~  
The raindrops fall heavily to the ground, dropping almost as fast Yuu's spirits. Lightning strikes in the distance, starkly visible against the dark sky, followed by a thunder clap. Yuu groans, they're going to be stuck here until the rain lets up and it's the worse. It's not even the fact that they might lose hours of walking to the storm that bothers him, it's the fact that he's stuck under this small outcropping of rock, wedged in tight with Mikaela to keep their bags from getting soaked. He could even handle if they were stuck anywhere else together, just not so close.

It puts him on edge to to be so near the other boy without any means of escape. Then there's the air. Mikaela's scent, a subtle mix of eucalyptus and coconut, permeates the space as it rises like steam with the drying rain and it's suffocating him in the small humid area. He's never wanted to breathe clean fresh air so much.

Yuu takes a quick peek out of the corner of his eye and he's pleased to note that he's not the only one who's uncomfortable. Mikaela's body language is closed off and he seems to be trying to keep as far away from Yuu as possible, almost like he can feel Yuu's annoyance in the small space. Green eyes widen, _can_ Mikaela tell? Yuu curses himself quietly, of course Mikaela can tell, he's a Mage. He probably feels everything Yuu feels.

Now he feels a little guilty because the blonde also looks a little sad and he's sure it's because of the animosity his body is giving off. Yuu adjusts slightly, loosening his body, and trying to lighten the atmosphere a bit.

"Hey…"

"What?" Yuu questions, giving him a side glance.

"Are you still mad about the river? You've been weird ever since."

Yuu shrugs, "I've been normal."

"No," Mikaela shakes his head, "You've been different. It's like you're actively trying to keep a physical distance between us. You're not usually quite so aware of where you are."

Unfortunately he knows exactly what Mikaela's talking about and it's true, he has been actively monitoring their proximity. Now that he knows Mikaela triggers his magic, he has to keep the other boy away to keep magic his magic under control. "Maybe I just don't want you near me," Yuu responds, ending the questions.

It's a shame he has to fight a relationship with Mikaela so much now when he'd wished for a companion not long ago. Although if he was going to pick someone to trust, he didn't want someone who was going to make his problems worse. _I guess that's why they say be careful what you wish for._

"Yuu-chan?" A quiet voice.

"What?" He answers tersely.

A slight pause, then, "I know you might not like me much, but you don't have to do everything alone."

"I have so far," Yuu replies without turning. "And I'm alive 16 years later."

"You don't have to anymore."

Yuu glares at the blonde with his caring eyes and false promises, "And for how long?"

"Huh?"

"For _how_ long will I not have to do it alone?"

"Ah," recognition dawns in his eyes. "For as long as you want, Yuu-chan."

"Yeah, right," Yuu scoffs, averting his gaze back outside. He's not interested in believing in something he knows isn't true. Mikaela has plans. Plans that don't involve him, he'd be stupid to assume otherwise.

"Yuu-chan-"

"Don't call me that."

"Fine," he sighs, "But we're not so different. If you want us to stay together, I will."

"Not different?" The fact that Mikaela thinks their experiences can even compare makes Yuu flare up in anger. He struggled to survive for eight years, there's no comparison! "We're not the same at all! You probably have parents and a family! This is just a fun trip for you. Afterwards you'll go back home to be comfortable and safe! Don't pretend like you won't just forget all about me!"

"You're wrong, I don't have a family. I was raised in an orphanage and once I left, there was no chance of going back." Mikaela looks at him sadly, "That hasn't been my home for a long time."

Yuu deflates slightly, confused on how someone like Mikaela could possibly be an orphan like him, it doesn't make sense. There's nothing about him that screams abandoned, in fact he seems more confident than people he's met with actual families. "You're lying."

"I wish I was, but I was raised in an orphanage and you've seen my magic. Even if they let me stay, once that appeared, I was no longer accepted. Just an unwanted burden until they could throw me out at sixteen."

"...And then they did?"

"They never got the chance. I left the day I turned sixteen." He shrugs, "I miss not having a stable roof over my head, even if it did leak, but I think I've done better on my own. Once I was away from there, no one knew what I could do and blending into the crowds was easy."

Yuu frowns at the surprising information, it doesn't change his opinion of the other boy, but maybe he _is_ just trying to survive each day too. Mikaela still has his own motivations, though it seems they're not quite what he thought initially. "So, you're traveling this far to see if they accept you?"

He hums noncommittally, "Something like that, but I don't really care if they do. There are many other places I want to see. This is just one stop, then I'm free to go wherever."

"The transient life isn't how you think, Mikaela."

"Isn't that what you've been doing?" He questions with a pointed look in Yuu's direction.

"That's why I know it sucks!"

"The past few weeks haven't been so bad to me."

Yuu shoots him a condescending look, " _That's_ because somehow as an orphan you had a lot of money."

"I worked," he answered simply. "People are more likely to trust _me_ since I don't smell like I haven't bathed in weeks."

"I don't either!"

" _Anymore."_

"So!"

"And only because I forced you to take a bath," he teases. "Then again sometimes my nose still burns!"

"I don't smell," Yuu mutters crossly.

"After so long, you wouldn't really notice anymore, would you?"

Yuu shifts to face him, "I. Do. Not. Smell."

"You sure about that?" He opens his mouth to tell Mikaela just how little he thinks of his opinion when the blonde leans over, taking a deep inhale against his neck and Yuu freezes. "Huh, I guess you were right. You do smell...nice."

 _Shit._ He let his guard down again. Yuu pulls back and retreats farther into his side of the small space, abruptly quiet and no longer willing to entertain the other boy.

A hesitant hand reaches for his shoulder and he shoots Mikaela a dark look that's met with a sigh. "I'm not going to ask you to tell me about your life if you don't want to, but Yuu-chan, you really can trust me." He pauses and fidgets slightly before continuing, "I know you think we can't possibly be alike, but we are and if you believed me, you wouldn't have to be so lonely."

"I'm not lonely."

"So you say, but I have a feeling you want a family and wouldn't mind being surrounded by them."

Yuu doesn't respond, ending the conversation and letting them lapse into silence. Rainfall the only sound between them. Mikaela may have a point, but he's not going to admit it. Besides who wouldn't want a family? It's only natural, even Mikaela wants one. Why else would he be going to the Mages other than finding a place he belongs? No matter if he pretends not to care.

His legs begin to ache from being curled up so long and he starts to think getting a little wet may be worth the chance to stretch his legs and get away from the stilted atmosphere. After several minutes of silence, there's a nudge to his shoulder and Mikaela drops a handful of dried apple slices into his palm, a peace offering.

Yuu shoves them all in his mouth at once, "This doesn't mean I trust you," he mumbles around his chewing.

Mikaela responds with a smile, "I know," and the tension around them lessens. He sits back, leaning his head against the rock with an air of satisfaction and Yuu knows his goal was to put him at ease.

He lets the slower gentle patter of rain relax him, it looks like they might be able to leave soon and he lets himself wonder... It _would_ be nice to let himself rely on Mikaela, to believe the emotions swimming in the depth of those blue pools. But to do that, he'd have to strip himself open, laying everything bare and he's not ready to take that big of a step yet. Although if Mikaela really is serious about sticking around, he'll find out soon enough and then...maybe. Maybe, he and all his faults wouldn't be rejected. Because, while the blonde may be pushy, he's not all bad. He could be stuck with worse people besides the too caring, nosy, warm touch-

Yuu abruptly ends that trail of thought and refocuses his attention on something more innocuous, dinner.

A head falls on his shoulders and Yuu flinches, barely restraining himself from pulling away. Knowing Mikaela, he probably did it on purpose, the jerk. Although, he has his doubts that Mikaela is actually asleep, he lets him stay rather than shove him off. At least he's quiet, it's not worth the fight if Mikaela is really sleeping and he's tired of arguing besides his hands don't seem to have reacted this time.

Instead he pulls a curl and peers closer to see Mikaela's lack of reaction. _Guess he really was asleep._ Yuu tucks the lock of hair behind Mikaela's ear, letting his fingers linger over skin for a brief moment before making a mental note to stop making a habit of that. He tilts his head just slightly to rest upon Mikaela's curls, inhaling that same refreshing scent, then exhaling quietly. _If this continues, Mikaela might just win._

 _~~~~~  
I think I'm really making progress. _Or at least he hopes so. Yuu still tries to keep a certain distance between them, but he's no longer shoved off quite so fast nor are his attempts at conversation spurned so quickly. So to Mikaela, that's progress.

Although, he probably pushed Yuu's limits a bit too much this time. They haven't talked for the past two days since he last irritated Yuu. He didn't think it was a big deal, but Yuu obviously thought otherwise.

" _You can touch me, Yuu-chan, it's okay," Mikaela comments from his spot stretched out next him._

 _Yuu sits up with a frown, "I don't want to touch you."_

" _Are you sure about that?" Mikaela flips over onto his stomach and grabs one of Yuu's hands to place on his arm, "That's not so bad is it?" Yuu yanks his hand back with a warning growl and Mikaela sighs. He rests his palm against the raven haired teen's calf, already knowing he's goading him._

" _Mikaela!"_

" _Yes?"_

" _Stop touching me!"_

" _What do you mean?" He questions back, sliding a hand up the length of Yuu's calf and squeezing gently. Yuu's fist lashes out and catches him in the throat. "Ow, Yuu-chan!" Mikaela jumps up, cradling his neck, and stalks several feet away, shooting daggers at the other teen. Yuu merely shrugs and looks away with red cheeks. "Well?"_

" _Well what? I'm not going to apologize."_

" _Fine, be a jerk."_

" _You're the jerk!" Yuu yells back, "I_ told _you to stop touching me!"_

" _Why? It's not that big a deal."_

 _Yuu turns away from him, "I don't have to explain myself to you."_

" _Okay, stay over there, sad and alone."_

He hadn't really been mad, he'd just wanted to see what Yuu would do if he backed off and didn't make anymore effort. However, it's not turning out how he'd thought. Yuu seems completely fine with them not speaking a single word to each other, relieved if he's not mistaken. It's disheartening.

It's obvious Yuu likes him, at least physically and he's pretty sure Yuu's not completely averse to him emotionally either. It's the little things, such as the refusal to make eye contact and the avoidance of his touch, but his willingness to touch his hair when Yuu thinks he's asleep. The aggression whenever his personal space is invaded and how defensive his eyes have started to get whenever they have a conversation. It didn't used to be that way, so he must be getting close if Yuu has gone on the defensive.

Still, he wants more. How much more? He's not sure, but the longer they stay together, the more curious he becomes. What makes Yuu happy? What does he want? Why's he still hiding his magic? Why can't Yuu believe in him?

He realizes he's somewhat of a hypocrite. He wants Yuu to trust him and talk to him, but he hasn't been entirely honest with other boy either. Yuu doesn't know that the whole reason they're traveling this far is because of a letter demanding he comes when he's sixteen or that he has absolutely no idea what to expect when they arrive.

From the other boy's previous outcry, he likely thought Mikaela was some nobility with connections to the Mages, now that he's debunked that thought, who knows what Yuu is thinking and well he's not going to volunteer information that'll tip Yuu towards separating. Better to let Yuu think he's completely in control of what's happening.

As for himself, he's pretty sure Yuu does have a kind heart, it's just guarded. Not like himself, he's cruel. His own survival was always most important to him. Yuu may snipe and bicker with him, but not once has he done anything unkind. If saving him really had been just for Yuu's own benefit, Yuu would already have stolen everything from him and taken off. Really, he's had numerous opportunities. By this point, Mikaela's positive that Yuu's completely trustworthy. A trustworthy, less scrawny than before traveling companion who's determined to do everything by himself.

It won't last. Yuu will learn very soon that you can only survive by yourself for a short amount of time. And while he wouldn't say he has any particularly strong feelings for Yuu, he has the qualities of a loyal friend and that's reason enough to want him to stay around. Getting to know him is just a plus.

Yuu opens his mouth to say something, but quickly shuts in when Mikaela looks towards him. That damn blonde, he's so carefree as if it's so easy to trust another person. He hates being as guarded as he is, but after eight years alone, it's how he's learned to protect himself. Mikaela is touchy and he's not, but he wants to be. He desperately wants to be okay with the occasional casual touch without tensing up. Mikaela can throw an arm around his shoulders so easily and he can't even bring himself to tap the blonde's shoulder.

When Mikaela had grabbed his hand, he'd pulled back so fast on instinct, then the other teen had gone a step farther and rubbed his leg in a far too intimate touch that set his heart racing. It was too much, too fast and he'd reacted as quickly as possible to get the other boy away from him. It didn't help much.

Even afterwards he could still feel the tingle on his calf where Mikaela's palm had trailed and no amount of rubbing had made the sensation go away until it was good and ready. Two days later, the ghost of the caress on his leg still triggers when he remembers.

He wants to apologize for hitting Mikaela, but he's scared. What if Mikaela doesn't forgive him? What if he's made himself as unlikable to Mikaela as he's always been to everybody else? They haven't talked in days and the blonde hasn't made any signs of wanting to speak to him again.

Mikaela's presence is something he's unintentionally come to rely on and the thought of being hated now weighs heavily on him. The other teen is one of the nicest people he's ever met and he's quickly coming to regret brushing him off as much as he did.

 _It's easier this way,_ Yuu consoles himself despondently. Now he doesn't have to worry about his magic sparking whenever the blonde gets close to him or the strange feelings whenever pretty blue eyes blink at him in concern. _It's fine, it's fine, everything's fine. This is good, I'll leave at the next town and none of this will matter._

"Yuu-chan!"

"H-huh?" He whirls around to where Mikaela is staring him down with a determined look on his face. _This is it._ Yuu hardens his heart.

"Come here."

Mikaela watches as Yuu takes a few hesitant steps towards him and pauses. He doubts Yuu has even noticed the lone tear track streaking down his left cheek and more than that, he could sense the distress and fear Yuu was feeling. Nothing like the anger he was giving off when they were trapped in their shelter. This is sadder and more targeted, Yuu needs someone. He doesn't care that the other boy won't admit it. They're not the same, he can survive alone if he has too, he's not so sure Yuu can do the same.

"Call me Mika!"

"What?" Yuu looks at him in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"Call me Mika," he repeats, pulling Yuu towards him by the wrist without a protest for once. "I'm sorry I touched you like that, I should have listened to you when you told me not to."

Yuu blinks at him with cautious hope in his expressive emerald eyes, "It's...okay."

Mikaela nods and they drop the subject, but he notices Yuu still hasn't pulled away and this close, he can feel the way Yuu's emotions begin to settle. No longer turbulent and sad.

Yuu's emotions are more tangled than he realized.

~~~~~  
It's time. He's finally going to open up and trust Mikaela, even if the blonde does overstep his boundaries way too much. Part of him knows he can trust the other, Mikaela won't reject him. If he does...then every word he's said will have been a lie and annoyingly enough, Mikaela has always been sincere with him.

Plus, he's sick of dealing with the side effects all alone. Everyday they get worse and it's finally time to admit he needs help before one of them gets hurt. Yuu's already figured out the blonde messes with his control and the longer they stay together, the more likely something unfixable will happen.

It'd be a shame if he accidentally burned half of Mikaela's face. Although in the chance that he's the one who dies, it gives him a sense of morbid satisfaction to think of Mikaela having to drag his corpse away since it'll have been his fault anyway.

"What are you smirking about, Yuu-chan?" The other boy questions with a glance up from his journal of magic notes.

"How you'd suffer if you had to drag my corpse."

Mikaela wrinkles his nose and stares at Yuu weirdly, "What?"

"Nothing, put the book down. I need to talk to you." His eyebrows raise, but he nonetheless obeys and gives Yuu his full attention. It's amazing really, Yuu does nothing but spurn him and the first time he needs to talk, Mikaela focuses on him like he's never done anything wrong. Yuu tsks, he's too accommodating.

"Well? I'm waiting. What could the silent and sulky Yuu-chan _need_ to talk to me about?"

"Mika…" He starts, using the nickname to make him more amiable and noting the slight smile the other gives. "I have magic."

"I know," he replies simply.

"You...know?"

"Yep!"

Yuu stares at him blankly, "You couldn't have known."

"But I did," he replies with an easy smile in Yuu's direction.

 _He can't have known, I've done everything possible to hide it and he's never said a word!_ "For how long?"

Mikaela watches him thoughtfully, "Since I found you passed out in the town that time. I used a little magic to track you and when I pulled it back to me, it felt different. That's when I started to suspect."

Yuu stares at him in disbelief, that's almost since the beginning. "And you never said anything?!" All this time, he's been struggling alone, trying to keep it inside and hoping he didn't keel over and die from the stress on his body. None of it was necessary! " _Why didn't you say something, you jerk?!"_

Blue eyes blink at him in bemusement, "Are you seriously mad that I didn't force you to reveal your secrets?"

"Yes!"

"That makes no sense," he shakes his head in confusion, "You could have told me at any time, you _knew_ I had magic."

"So! I can't believe you pretended you didn't know!" Yuu stands up in frustration, pacing back and forth, too angry to be still anymore. This isn't going how he expected _at all_.

"Yuu-chan, I don't get why you're so upset, but now I can help you. That _is_ what you wanted, right?"

"I don't want your help now!"

Mikaela frowns and shoots out a leg faster than Yuu can avoid to sweep him off his feet and drag him over by the forearm until Yuu's upper body is halfway in his lap, being held in place by his thighs. "Give me your hand."

"That hurt," Yuu mutters, locking his hands together behind the other boy's back where he can't reach them.

"We both know you have a high tolerance for pain." Mikaela reaches for his interlocked fingers, "Are you really going to make this difficult?"

"Did you really pretend you didn't know I had magic for weeks?"

He shrugs and leans back on his palms, "Fine, don't give me your hand. You can stay in my lap as long as you like, it's not like I mind."

Yuu flushes when he realizes he has in fact effectively trapped Mikaela in his arms and there's something vaguely familiar about the position. He stares at the other boy's torso and shoves his hand towards him, "Here, just hurry up."

His hand is encased inside a tight grip and Yuu looks up to see Mikaela staring at their hands with furrowed eyebrows, but Yuu's too busy staring at him to focus on whatever he's trying to do. This close, he can see every lash surrounding Mikaela's eyes, the curve of his lips pressed together in concentration, even the light spattering of freckles near his cheeks from all the sunlight they've been traveling in, otherwise unnoticeable from the distance he usually keeps.

Green meets blue and Yuu freezes as Mikaela holds his gaze. _We're too close._

"Are you going to stare at me the whole time? It makes it a little harder to concentrate."

"No," Yuu answers, looking away back towards the empty landscape. Their environment has changed since they've been walking, over three weeks together now. The dirt road is no longer as defined or well traveled, trees are sparse here and everything is wide open land with browning grass as the seasons change. He supposes it's good there aren't any people traveling this way because there's no cover at night. Although, they'd be able to see anyone approaching them from a distance, even if there wasn't anywhere to hide from thieves. There are still the occasional rivers, but they're slower and shallow, just enough for them to get by on.

It's quiet out here without their footsteps, only the sounds of the wind blowing or a bird chirping breaking the calm and Yuu involuntarily finds his eyes drifting shut and his head tilting towards the other boy's chest before his voice startles him. "It doesn't seem like your magic likes me much."

"Hmm?" Yuu murmurs sleepily, barely paying attention.

"It retreats from me," Mikaela explains. "When I try to coax it out, it feels my own magic and pulls away."

"Oh...well, good because I don't like you either."

Yuu feels his stomach drop when the other teen looks down at him with a gleam in his eyes, "Oh yeah? I seem to remember you touching my hair at night whenever you think I'm asleep!"

"W-What? That didn't- I never, I-I wasn't," Yuu fumbles his way through an explanation, wishing he could get a single sentence out. "That never happened!"

"Did so! I remember it. You were so gentle for once, I couldn't believe it was you!" If he was red before, his face is absolutely burning now, just how much knowledge has Mikaela been hiding? Mikaela laughs at his expression and Yuu's grateful he looks away, so he can recover. He can't hide anything from Mikaela it seems like. He drops his head against Mikaela's thigh in defeat and a hand cards through his hair, "Not gonna hide what you like anymore?"

"Shut up, I'm just sleepy." _And comfortable._

"Mmhmm." Yuu feels a weird tugging sensation and he sits up quickly when he feels that familiar tingle racing through his arms. "Ah, got it!" Mikaela exclaims just as green sparks start cascading from his hands.

"Ahh!"

"Yuu-chan! Calm down!" Mikaela's voice breaks through his blind panic, reminiscent of the last time he lost control. "It's fine, this is normal. Just let it play out. You've been repressing it a really long time." Hands press down on his shoulders, "Breathe. You okay?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Are you scared of your magic? Is that why you finally said something?"

"I couldn't control it. All I could do was push it down to..." Yuu trails off.

Mikaela nods in understanding at his unspoken words, "You won't hurt me, Yuu-chan. You don't have to worry."

"Yeah." He looks into Mikaela's confident eyes full of compassion and Yuu curses to himself, _He's the best._

Yuu holds his hands in front of his face, marveling at the green sparks. Last time his hands were like this, his body went numb after burning someone's face half off, but now there's only a mild tingle.

Mikaela interlocks their fingers, pressing their palms together and Yuu watches as blue and green sparks intermingle until he can't separate the two colors, only feeling the warmth between their hands as a low hum builds under his skin.

He looks up and his gaze is captured by the movement of Mikaela's lips. He's not sure what the other boy is saying, but he's caught and he can't bring himself to care either. Yuu wonders what it'd be like to kiss Mikaela and he's struck by the urge to lean forward and press their lips together. It's that thought that jolts him back to his body and he blinks rapidly, dismissing the invading thought.

"Yuu-chan," his name is repeated patiently until they make eye contact. "I'll teach you the best I can, okay?" Yuu swallows nervously and nods. "You okay?" He asks, head tilting to the side in concern. '"Is this too much?"

He shakes his head no because the last thing he wants is for Mikaela to let go and take all his warmth with him. God, he hasn't felt this safe with another person in years. Mikaela smiles at him and all Yuu can think is _oh no._

~~~~~  
Yuu brings his hands together imitating Mika and letting loose a flurry of sparks, the leaves in his hands burn to ash and he lets them drift away. It's nice not having to be afraid of being found out or that his magic is slowly killing him. In fact, since he's started practicing with Mikaela, he feels better than ever. He sleeps better, has more energy, and his appetite's grown.

He feels lighter than air.

It's amazing how much freer you are when you don't have to worry about every single thing. The only thing he worries about is what will happen when they reach the Mages, but even that's far enough away that he doesn't bother dwelling on it too much. Yuu's more curious about if Mikaela likes him enough to let himself be kissed at least once. Although even that doesn't bother him much.

"Hey, Mika! You sure they won't care if I learn?"

The other boy shrugs in response, "They don't have to know. I learned myself."

"Yeah, but clearly they like you. They've never met me."

"They're Mages, Yuu-chan. They know. Come here," he pats the ground beside him.

Yuu bounds over to him curiously and settles next to him, "What's up?"

"You understand fire, so I wanna tell you what I've learned so far."

"Is this going to be a speech?" Yuu groans out dramatically. "You know I was only in school for a few years."

"Good thing you're listening not reading then, right?" Mikaela ignores his exaggerated sigh and continues on. "So, we have control over the four elements to some extent and we can affect change in the human body. Magic also acts a power source which is why the Mages are more advanced than everyone else. I think there's other more advanced uses, but you have to be taught those."

"Affect change in the human body…" Yuu thinks contemplatively. "That's you healing my back and that silver haired guy healing his neck?"

"Right."

"And that weird thing where you appear in front of me?"

He laughs, "That's me taking your perception, so you don't see me move."

"Well, I hate when you do that."

"I haven't done that in weeks."

"Still, it was a cheating when you did," Yuu responds, letting Mikaela pull him to his feet. "I should have been able to tell you in my own time."

"You would have been dead by then, sorry I didn't let you die."

"You're not forgiven."

Mikaela scoffs lightly, "I didn't expect anything else." He lets go of Yuu's hands and takes a few steps away, contemplating Yuu's change in personality as Yuu puts several feet between them for practicing. He wouldn't exactly call him _open_ now, but he's far more talkative, still stubborn, but the glares don't come out nearly as often. Yuu even cracks the occasional smile now. It's starting to feel like he actually has a companion now and part of him is pleased that he's the one caring for Yuu.

He's starting to see more of the Yuu who saved him, the one who's hidden under his many hard layers of protection, yet still a little soft on the inside. The one who was so used to being alone that he'd almost given up hope of anything else, because he knows Yuu didn't see much point in going on when they met. But there's a warmth to him now, a warmth that would blossom with only a few gentle strokes and part of that makes him sad. Once Yuu finds his own inner strength, who's to say Yuu will even need or want him anymore? He's nowhere near as warm as Yuu and it won't be long until the other boy realizes it.

"Mikaela!" He looks back in the direction of the shout too late to heed Yuu's warning and there's a hot flash of pain before he's flung harshly onto his back. "Mika!" Yuu runs over and tries to pull him to his feet, but everything's wavering including the beginnings of pain in his stomach and he waves Yuu's hands away.

"What just happened?"

Yuu looks at him guiltily, "Well...I...uh wanted to try changing my hair color."

"Your hair color…?" He questions uncertainly through the throbbing ache in his body.

"Yeah...you said we could affect change in the human body, so I thought it'd be cool to see what I'd look like with green hair." Mikaela groans in disbelief and shifts away from Yuu to catch his breath. "I'm sorry, my magic got away from me." Yuu flashes him a wide grin, "I'm still a beginner, you know!"

 _An apology, another new development._ He glares at Yuu's grin, unable to hold make his grunt of pain from the quiet burn making its way through his body. Yuu looks at him in concern, "Are you...okay? You're looking a little green."

"Is that supposed to be _funny?"_ He hisses out in annoyance.

"Uh, no," Yuu replies nervously, "You really do look a little green…" No wonder his skin was prickling.

Mikaela raises a faintly tinged green hand in front of his face and shoots Yuu a scathing look, "Yuu-chan!"

"What?!" He raises his hands in defense, "I said I was sorry! Do you want me to try and fix it?"

"No!"

"Mika, come on! If you don't let me help, you're going to hold this against me. I know you will."

"I'm fine."

There's no way anything Yuu would do could make him feel better and when Yuu reaches for him, he throws out his hand to keep the other teen away and a quick blast of sky blue magic shoots him off his feet where he lands several feet away. "Oww! Mika!" Yuu protests, rubbing his back, "Don't be like that! Let me help you!"

"No way! You've done enough!" Mikaela crawls desperately away and collapses on the ground with a gasp, out of breath. "Just practice or something."

Yuu frowns at him, but stays back and he lets out a sigh of relief as Yuu returns to practicing, only glancing back at him every so often to check if he's still okay. Mikaela flips onto his back and watches Yuu, his eyes trace lower, drawn to the flex of each of Yuu's strong calves as he moves. Yuu's filled out nicely, he thinks appreciatively. All the walking and three meals a day has transformed him from a scrawny orphan to a healthy male with a lot of lean muscle for him to admire.

It's appealing.

However he can't explore too far down that train of thought because he still feels like shit and he wants nothing more than to sleep until the side effects from Yuu's magic fade away. He's almost there when he hears footsteps and his head is lifted into a lap.

"I thought I told you not to help."

"The ground is hard," Yuu offers by way of explanation. He feels Yuu's fingers shift his bangs away and cold fingers are pressed against his forehead. "Sorry."

"Mmm."

He winces in the harsh light of the sun when Yuu uses his thumb to pull one of his eyelids open, "Hey, are you asleep?"

"Not when you do that!" He answers in annoyance, smacking Yuu's hand away from his face. "Can't you just leave me in peace?"

"No." And there's something about the way Yuu says that one word that makes him open his eyes and look at the other boy in confusion. Yuu merely meets his gaze with an unreadable look that he clearly has no intention of explaining and looks away.

Mikaela adjusts until he's more comfortable. "Fine, but don't talk." It's unsurprising that although he's never given any indication that he minded whenever they're in close proximity to each other and Yuu's more trusting now, he can still sense Yuu's hesitation in reaching for him. In the way his touches never linger, only enough to get his point across. Like now, Yuu tucks his hair behind his ears then pulls back as if to say, that's enough for now.

But he's done all he can, it's up to Yuu to meet him halfway now.

~~~~~  
"No wonder our bags are so heavy all the time, you brought so much stuff!"

"It's not just _stuff_ , Yuu-chan." He pulls out two sets of thick winter pants and shirts, cloaks that have been bound tightly, and boots with fabric enough to stretch halfway up his calves. "It's going to get cold and we'll freeze if we're not prepared. Here, change."

"Don't look."

Mikaela's gaze flicks to him with a raised eyebrow, "You know I've seen you before, right?"

"Not the point," Yuu replies stubbornly.

"Well, I was going to change at the same time, but now I think I'll just sit and watch you change."

"Mika!"

"I'm kidding, Yuu-chan," he responds, yanking his own sleeveless shirt off and reaching for a new one. "I have no interest in seeing your scrawny body naked."

"Hey, I've gained weight! I'm probably the same size as you now!"

"Wanna prove it?"

"No!" Yuu hastily grabs up the change of clothes and strips down. They've taken plenty of baths at the same time, but it feels weird if Mika were to watch him change. There's been something different about the other boy's gaze recently and it gives him butterflies. Mika looking at him like that while he's half naked isn't something he wants to experience quite yet, especially with his already fluctuating feelings.

He's happy whenever Mikaela's near, they've become friends now and there's an easy camaraderie between them. He doesn't want to ruin it or scare his first friend in years off, but anytime they laugh together...it's hard. Sometimes, he just wants to push him down and kiss him silly. It'd be nice, he thinks, being with Mikaela like that. Having arms wrapped around him, pulling him close, and being kissed back. He's never experienced it before, but he wants to now.

 _I'm so greedy._ Before all he'd wanted was a friend to stick with him, now he has that and he already wants more. But, he's not stupid, he already knows he can't have Mikaela. Mikaela's so clean and he's so... _grungy._ The blonde teen probably wouldn't even want him in that way, plus they'll separate soon after they end their journey. Getting tied together like that would be bad for both of them.

"Yuu-chan…" Hands reach out to grab his shirt and tug it over his head. "You're going to get sick if you don't hurry up. Why are you just standing there?"

"...What?"

The other teen shakes his head and takes his old clothes to pack away, "When did you become so spacey?"

"I'm not, I was just thinking."

"Oh? About what?"

"None of your business." Yuu finishes the last tie on his cloak and scoops up his bags before striding off. There's no way he'll admit to what he was thinking about.

"Wait up!" Mikaela grabs his hand and he immediately pulls away from the warm grip. "What's wrong with you? I don't really think you're scrawny anymore."

"It's not that! It's nothing, I'm just tired." He doesn't wait to see the worried look he's positive Mikaela is wearing, it wouldn't help anything. He's let his thoughts and feelings get the best of him and now the only thing is to wait it out and tomorrow when he wakes up, he'll feel better about everything.

They don't get more than a half mile down the road before he's encompassed in a tight hug. "I don't know what's wrong, Yuu-chan, but if I upset you, I'm sorry." He doesn't respond and almost involuntarily his arms wrap around the blonde's back as his head settles against Mikaela's shoulder.

Hugs are just as nice as he remembers from his childhood.

"You're such a sap," he finally mutters.

A kiss is pressed to the top of his head that makes his heartbeat stutter and sends blood rushing to his face. "I think you like it though."

"I don't." He wants to bury his face in Mikaela's neck and breathe in his refreshing scent, but he might never let go if he does that, especially paired with the teasing circles being rubbed against his lower back. Yuu straightens, ignoring the heat in his face and states, "We should go, the days are getting shorter, so we can't walk as much."

Mikaela smiles in amusement, "I don't think you really care, but okay. Although if I were you, I wouldn't be so eager to move so fast. This is the easy part."

He's not quite sure what that means, but if he has to look at that smile any longer, he might do something rash. There's too much flipping around inside him, yet when he hears Mikaela laughing behind him, something loosens and he finds himself smiling as his magic settles once again.

It's close to sunset when he's shivering and extremely grateful for the change of clothes that Yuu finds out what the cryptic remark from earlier meant. In front of them is a glacial landscape, devoid of all trees with miles of snow covered land as far he can see. There's nothing remotely welcoming about the area and he turns to Mikaela with his mouth open in shock, hoping they won't have to cross this.

The look of resignation is the only confirmation he needs that this is going to be the worst trip of his life.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

* * *

"Yuu-chan, come on, talk to me!" Mikaela begs futilely for what has to be somewhere around the tenth time. Yuu hasn't spoken a word to him since he found out they'd be crossing the tundra. To be fair, he _is_ justified considered he hadn't wanted to warn Yuu about what was coming. Last night, they'd made camp right at the border between the two areas and lit a fire for what would probably be their warmest night for a while.

The other teen made it a point to sleep on the opposite side of the fire from him.

Then this morning, they'd packed everything up, wrapped up in their cloaks and set out across the tundra. That was hours ago and Yuu's had a pinched, sour look on his face for miles as they slogged through the bleak landscape of frozen grass and snowy hills. The freezing air bites at them with every step they take and he's forever thankful he remembered scarves to protect their faces.

Although, it doesn't seem to help Yuu's mood.

"Are you mad at me Yuu-chan?"

"Yes!" Yuu turns back to glare at him, "We're going to die in this frozen wasteland Mika and it'll be _all your fault!"_

"Okay, so maybe Winter is a little harsher than I thought it would be," he concedes, grabbing Yuu's arm to keep him from tripping on yet another pile of snow and he's given another angry scowl for his efforts.

Once he's righted, Yuu shoots him a disbelieving look, " _A little?_ Mikaela, look around us!"

He grimaces, "You don't have to use my full name. I get that you're angry."

"Look. Around."

Mikaela sighs as his eyes take in the landscape, the blinding whiteness of their surroundings that's hard to constantly look at when the sun's reflecting off everything, the few hints of green here and there, but more than anything, freezing snow. Even so, it's beautiful out here. "What do you want me to say, Yuu-chan?"

"Apologize!" He demands, pouting at Mika. "For making me endure this."

"I'm sorry. I honestly hoped we'd make it here before the weather got really bad, but we're strong! We can survive!" He smiles in what he hopes is a reassuring way and Yuu just shakes his head, stomping forward through the deep snow.

Well at least he didn't give up and turn around, small blessings.

Mile after mile of walking through the snow is hard on their legs, especially in the areas where the snow is deeper. They tire easier in the cold weather and combined with the exhaustion and numbness, they can't travel as far. Each day they cover less and less ground. When it's too hard to go on, they huddle together for warmth around a small flame when they can, low energy makes it hard to do too much magic and Yuu usually falls asleep against him fairly quickly anyway.

Cooking isn't impossible, but it's more trouble than it's worth to try gathering what little wood there is to start a fire for cooking. Instead, they subsist on mostly dried meat and dried fruit, packing their canteens with snow to melt for drinking water from their body heat.

At night, they dig shallow holes against snow drifts for insulation and bury themselves inside with blankets that have to be shaken free of snow in the morning before being packed away. Fortunately if they tuck themselves in tight enough, their shared body heat keeps the temperature manageable throughout the night.

It works out well because he's not able to gather enough energy for magic to give them any kind of extra warmth after walking himself to exhaustion everyday. Before they'd figured that out, each morning would start out with cold aching bodies and a grouchier Yuu.

Surprisingly enough, Yuu doesn't protest their sleeping arrangements at all. In fact, he's only too eager to slide into their burrow at night and curl up into sleep. Honestly, he'd thought the other male would protest more, but apparently being warm takes precedence over his anger at having to cross the glacial steppe or sleep close to someone.

They continue on like this for days, barely talking to conserve their energy and keep their throats hydrated. It's not like they have much to say to each other right now anyway.

It's when they're taking a break near a frozen lake that he feels the shift in the weather. A blizzard is coming. Mikaela looks over to where Yuu is crawling across the lake on his hands and knees, peering at the fish swimming below the ice, "Yuu-chan?"

"Hmm?" He glances up and the only thing visible are his eyes, not even his nose escapes the tightly tied scarf.

"There's a blizzard coming."

Yuu is on his feet in a second and quickly backs off the ice, staring towards the cloudless sky in confusion. "How do you know?"

"I can just feel it," he shrugs.

Emerald eyes stare at him suspiciously before Yuu sighs, "Well, what the hell are we supposed to do now?"

"Prepare."

"Mika, you are the worst planner! I thought you knew what you were doing!"

"I got us this far, didn't I?!"

"Barely."

"...You're still mad about me not telling you."

"And I'll stay mad until we make it through this and my bones aren't frozen," Yuu huffs at him.

"Bones can't freeze."

"Says you."

Mikaela runs a frustrated hand through his hair and drops the subject, "Just help me. We need to build shelter to protect us."

"Why can't we just burrow again?"

"We need to protect our things this time, plus depending on how much snow comes we could be trapped inside a burrow."

Yuu gives a flat look, "The absolute worst." He peers closer, "Why do you look guilty?"

"Uh…"

"Mika…"

"It'll probably be colder afterwards too, cold enough that we may want to stay put for a little while to avoid any more blizzards. We should stay where we'll have shelter."

"..."

"It _might_ be blizzard season."

"Dammit Mika!" Yuu yells and shoves him into the snow. "You get worse every time I talk to you!"

"It's not that long!" He protests, scooting away from Yuu and hauling himself back to his feet. "We just have to last a few weeks. If we'd waited, we would have gotten there like six months later."

"At least _we would have made it_ ," Yuu counters.

"We'll be _fine._ "

"Says _you,_ I don't even have the energy to practice anymore. It takes all my energy just to get through the day."

"I know, I'm sorry. It'll get better, I promise. I just didn't want you to leave if you knew we had to cross this."

"Yeah, yeah." Yuu waves his apology off, "What do we need to get this done?"

Mikaela lets out a quiet sigh and together they start gathering things to build a small shelter. They decide to use the biggest snow drift as a backing to lean broken branches against. Somehow, they manage to stack enough snow to pack into walls for a small shelter. Once they've finished that, crunchy dry leaves and tree bark are spread on the ground for insulation and one of their blankets is tossed over it. Not very comfortable, but it'll protect them.

Once they've moved their things into the small space, Yuu gives him a look that he's pretty sure means he's half forgiven, "I guess it's not so bad."

"I'm glad," he murmurs to Yuu's retreating back before laying down on the blanket. _At least something is going a little better._

Shelter crisis averted, Yuu crawls back onto the frozen lake and presses his bare palm against the ice, willing his hand to heat. The ice is thick, but he can see a few blurred medium sized shapes swimming below it and _he wants those fish._ It's been days since they've had a hot meal and even longer since he's had fresh meat. Just thinking of the aroma from grilling fish makes his mouth water. He just has to catch them, Mikaela can cook.

Yuu shouts as his hand plunges into the lake and suddenly he's up to his elbow in freezing water. He yanks his arm back, desperately trying to rub feeling back into his numb limb before he loses it when the first frigid burst of air sends him to the ground.

He crawls toward their shelter, silently cursing Mika the whole way until he scoots inside and packs snow up behind him to seal out the wind. With the entrance sealed, it's almost completely dark inside, but before he can open his mouth to complain, Mika's holding a faintly glowing ball of light between his hands and watching him.

"The blizzard hit," he states unnecessarily to fill the silence.

Mikaela raises an eyebrow, "Obviously." Yuu scowls at him, moving further inside to lean against the wall, shivering then instead shifting himself closer to the soft, warm glow of Mikaela's light. It's quiet, but tense as they sit together listening to the strong winds of the blizzard outside.

Yuu looks up and can't help admiring once again how light and shadow always seem to illuminate Mikaela's best features. He wishes he didn't notice. "Hey, teach me to do that. It'll be helpful for when I'm alone at night." _Anything to distract me._

He can't place the look, but even as Mikaela agrees, something shifts minutely in his eyes and it seems like he withdraws the slightest bit. "It's really not that hard, it's like summoning fire, you just focus on the warmth and light of the fire rather than the energy and heat. The things that can't hurt you."

Mikaela lets his own light float around in the small space, tugs his hands over, and Yuu resists the urge to yank his hands away. He very clearly remembers what happened the last time they held hands and the effects of that haven't faded, he _still_ wants to kiss Mika enough that he's not eager for them to start touching each other again.

Yuu tries to listen, he honestly does, there's just one too many conflicting emotions tumbling around inside of him to focus on anything other than the warmth of Mika's hands around his own. It's useless to keep struggling when he knows it's not what he really wants right now. Yuu gives up, letting his hands drop away, and lays down on his side next to Mika to avoid looking at the other boy and stares up at the roof, "I hope you know this is your punishment for lying."

"What?"

"Remember what you told me in town? You had to buy all these supplies because a blizzard _may_ hit. We're trapped here because you lied to me instead of telling me where we were going."

A quiet laugh, "Whatever, Yuu-chan. I'm sure the weather is punishing me for lying, but not _you_ for stealing. This may be karma catching up to you." Yuu flinches and slaps away the hand slipping under his cloak to tickle his sides.

"You're not sneaky and it's _your_ fault," he mutters, scooting the few inches away he can in the small space and shutting his eyes. "Don't do that."

"Still angry with me?"

"Mhmm." Mikaela's fingers drag through his hair lightly and he wants to tell the other boy to back off, but it also feels really really nice plus he likes when Mikaela touches him gently like this. "Talk to me, Mika."

" _Now_ you want to talk?"

" _Mika,"_ he chastens.

"Fine, fine. About what?"

"Tell me about your orphanage, before you left."

"Hmm...okay. I'd been the-"

"Don't stop."

"What?" Mika looks over at him in confusion, "I barely started."

"My hair, I didn't say stop." A smirk breaks out across the blonde's face, but he interrupts before Mikaela can comment, "Keep going with the story."

"Aren't you demanding," he murmurs, resuming his stroking and Yuu settles back down to bask in the attention. "I'd been there since I was a baby and I liked it, everyone was really friendly, there were a lot of younger kids, so I was always helping with them. I was like the adorable little brother everyone wanted." Yuu scoffs and gets a tug in response. " _And_ the responsible older brother to the younger kids, but then I turned ten and there was...magical puberty…"

" _Magical puberty?_ You couldn't come up with a better word than that?"

"Do you want to hear or not?"

"Okay, tell me about your _magical puberty._ "

"It probably went about the same as yours, uncontrollable magic, the fear from other people," he shrugs. "After that, I was no longer a favorite, I was a burden, someone they wished was gone. The only ones that didn't care were the youngest who didn't even know to be afraid, but the adults kept me from them all the same. They fed me and clothed me, but I was isolated from everyone now. They made sure everyone in the town knew there was something wrong with me, but at least I still had a home for what it was."

"Mmm...that's right, you were lucky they didn't throw you out. You're too clueless, I don't think you'd have lasted long on the streets."

"Thanks for the confidence, but interestingly enough, I found out when I was sixteen that when I was dumped at the orphanage, there were strict instructions that I wasn't allowed to be kicked out _until_ I was sixteen or the whole orphanage would be cursed. Apparently soon after, the letter caught fire and that was enough to make them believe it. Once the magic developed, they likely thought it was a prophecy and if they kicked me out, I'd come back and destroy the place in revenge. So, they kept me. Alone, but safe."

Yuu stares up at him, "You don't seem it."

"Seem what?"

"Seem like you've been isolated for years. It's hard to tell."

"Because I'm not as untrusting as you? I think the difference was I may have been isolated, but I was surrounded by people who were friends with each other. I _wanted_ that again, I hated being alone. Everyone you were around afterwards was just like you, defensive and content to be alone."

"I wouldn't say content."

"As hard as it was to get you to agree to come along, that's hard to believe."

Yuu turns away, "No one asked you," he mutters before lapsing into silence. Mikaela's so friendly, _too_ friendly. There's no way being rejected for that long hasn't affected him, but it's like there's a mask in place. He only sees what Mikaela wants him to see, only gets half the person. It's for that reason that he can't trust in Mikaela fully, can't help doubting his sincerity. Unlike Mikaela, he's honest, he doesn't pretend to be happy or unbothered and he doesn't think Mikaela is as golden as he seems. It's an act.

The knowledge doesn't change his feelings, but he's wary. You never know what to expect from the ones who hide. Yuu knows they're the least trustworthy of all.

Mikaela's not sure what the other teen is thinking, but he lets him be. Yuu seems to do that sometimes, retreat in on himself to mull over new information, giving no hints to his thoughts.

They don't talk much the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. They eat more of the dried food he brought, brave the blizzard in turns to relieve themselves, and finally he extinguishes the light as they turn in for the night.

He pulls the blanket up to his chin and wraps it tighter around himself. It's much more comfortable in here than in the cramped space of their usual burrow, or well it was until Yuu yanks his blanket up and slides over into his space. "Yuu-chan, what are you _doing_? Get on your own side, we have room now!"

"Miiika, let me sleep next to you, it's cold over there."

"It is not, it feels the same here." Yuu ignores him, wrapping arms and legs around him under the blanket, then settling in. And here, he'd actually thought Yuu minded when they had to sleep pressed together every night they burrowed. "You're so annoying."

"Mm."

At least whatever was bothering him seems okay now. He shifts a fraction and feels Yuu's limbs tighten around him to keep him pulled in close. He supposes he should feel touched that Yuu wants to keep him near like this. The other boy has learned to keep what's important to him close when he sleeps, it used to be his bag that was always securely in his arms at night and now it's him.

He wonders if Yuu realizes just how much his unconscious choices are saying. It's certainly not lost on him. In fact, Yuu's been involuntarily giving off subtle hints that he may be starting to feel something more than just friendship for a while now. He's not going to push it though, if Yuu wants to act on it, that's up to him and he wouldn't be...unreceptive if Yuu did.

Mikaela turns in his hold and abruptly yanks Yuu closer, feeling him startle and tense up before slowly relaxing. Yuu's fingers dig a little tighter into is shirt and he falls asleep like that, with Yuu's warm breath against his shoulder.

~~~~~  
"Mika! Mika!" Someone's shaking him and his eyes open heavily to daylight. _Daylight?_ He glances around and groans, shrinking back into his blankets when he realizes Yuu has knocked down the entrance to let _in_ daylight and _out_ all the warmth from the night. "Mika!"

"What." It's not a question.

Bright eyes look at him excitedly, "There's more fish today. Get up, I'm hungry!"

Yuu might as well be speaking another language for how well his sleepy brain is struggling to understand what's going on, "How are we getting these fish?"

" _You're_ going to help me crack the ice, then start the fire to cook while I catch them."

Mikaela snorts and pulls his blanket tighter around him, wishing Yuu would seal the entrance and leave him alone to sleep. "You can't cook. How are you going to catch a fish? And you'll freeze."

"It's not for long, just get up before another blizzard comes. Get _up!_ " Yuu viciously rips his blanket off and tosses it aside and he curls in on himself in the sudden freezing temperature.

"Yuu-chan!" He desperately reaches for his blanket to regain some of his lost warmth, but Yuu shoves his hands aside and hands him his cloak and scarf instead.

"Let's go."

"Ugh, Yuu-chan, I don't want any fish!"

"Yes, you do. You just want to sleep more." Pulling on the clothing Yuu throws at him, he drags himself outside to where Yuu is already waiting on the ice. "Don't look at me like that, get over here."

Sullenly, he gets down on his knees next to Yuu and begins melting the ice as Yuu hacks through it with a stick. When they finally have a big enough hole for fishing, he steps back to let Yuu finish the job and makes his way carefully back to land to start a fire.

"Mika! Watch me catch a fish! I'll catch two, one for each of us."

"Sure you will," he murmurs passively, pulling his knees up to his chest and letting the fire warm him. _Why oh why am I awake right now?_ It only takes him thirty seconds to realize Yuu put absolutely no thought into how he was supposed to catch a fish. The sight of Yuu flat on his stomach trying to catch fish with his bare hands actually brings a smile to his face. "Do you need help, Yuu-chan?" He calls out in amusement.

"No! I've almost got it, they keep slipping away! Good thing you don't want any."

"I changed my mind, if you catch a fish, I'm eating it for breakfast too."

"Go back to sleep!"

Sighing as he senses Yuu's frustration starting to mount, Mikaela stands up and walks over, gently nudging Yuu aside and ignoring his glare. A quick flick of his fingers and some of the jumping fish freeze and fall flat long enough for Yuu to scoop two of them up. "Hurry up, I'm hungry."

Yuu pouts and throws the once again flopping fish into his lap, ignoring his screech, "I could've done that."

"Yuu-chan!"

"What?" He smirks, "Cook them, I did my part."

Mikaela takes in a deep, calming breath and dumps the fish off his lap. As much as he'd like to smack Yuu with one of the flailing fish, he's almost positive it would lead to a physical confrontation that he doesn't feel like having right now and he's hungry.

So, with only a threatening glance towards his companion, he cleans the fish himself and spears them up beside the fire to roast. He'll have his payback later, when it won't interfere with getting hot food in his stomach.

After their breakfast and loaded down with full stomachs, they willingly spend time outside. A full night's rest and hot food makes the weather a lot less daunting than before. "I thought you hated the snow," he calls out as Yuu attempts to make a snowman even taller than himself.

" _No._ I've never seen so much snow in my life before this and I hate walking through it everyday, but playing in it is fine."

Yuu abandons his headless snowman, climbs to the top of a snow drift and waves him over, but he declines, content to stay warm by the fire and let Yuu burn off all his energy. He smiles as Yuu rolls down the hill before shaking the snow off him and coming back to push against him and steal his warmth. The other teen grins at him, happy and open with nothing but teeth and for the first time he feels his heart skip a beat.

He seems much happier now than when they first met, even if they are stuck in the middle of the Glacial Steppe during blizzard season. It doesn't seem to be bothering Yuu much he's thinking he might actually join Yuu in whatever snow game he comes up with next until the temperature again drops sharply and not even the fire can make him want to stay out here any longer.

"Is another blizzard coming?"

"Yeah, I think so." Mikaela quickly dumps snow over their fire and flees back inside with Yuu right behind him.

He shivers in the weak light that Yuu's holding. The other boy had figured it out, not perfectly, but enough to dimly light the area. Mikaela ignores the pang in his chest when he thinks back to Yuu's words. It sounds like he's already looking towards their future apart. It's colder than earlier tonight and leaving the entrance open all day didn't help, the temperature's barely warmer inside than outside. Although...skin contact almost always get you warmer faster than layers of clothes.

His eyes flick over Yuu curiously and he wonders...he's very well aware of his own preferences and as he watches Yuu change into a dry shirt, he thinks he wouldn't mind touching him a little more intimately. Especially with them separating afterwards, this might be the only chance they have to connect in that way.

But, he's not sure how interested Yuu would be, even if he is a lot more open now. Mikaela's only been with one other person and he hadn't liked him much, but he thinks he and Yuu get along well enough that it would be nice. Almost as if reading his mind, Yuu gives him a sour look. "It's too cold, use your light too."

"There's one way to guarantee we stay warm," he murmurs back without breaking eye contact. Yuu looks at him quizzically and Mika places a hand on his thigh.

Emerald eyes widen, then default into a blank stare, "That's not accepted."

"What do you care?" He counters against the guarded look Yuu's giving him. "You didn't seem the type to care what other people or society in general think."

"Well, you didn't seem the type to be into _that._ "

"Into what?"

"Nothing." Yuu looks away.

"Just because everyone doesn't agree with something doesn't make it wrong. There's nothing wrong with caring about someone, no matter who they are. Don't let their judgement keep you from being happy."

Yuu scoffs, "And that would make me happy?"

"There are other times and other people, I'm just saying don't force yourself into a box."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

"Okay, stay over there and freeze."

Yuu pulls his knees to his chest and tightens his cloak around him, unsure what to think. Mikaela really just offered to have sex with him, not in a lecherous way, just matter of fact. He peeks over to where the other boy is laying, cradling his own ball of light against his stomach and shifts uncomfortably.

Mika is beautiful and he _is_ cold, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. The other boy has his annoying moments, but he's never hurt him or done anything more than care for him. He probably has gentle touches too and afterwards Mikaela will be warm against him and he might run fingers through his hair, _and_ he might finally be able to kiss him. Then, they can just pretend like it never happened and everything will be the same. Getting warm isn't sounding so bad after all, he reasons with himself. There could be worse first times.

"Hey, Mika," he crawls over and tugs at the blonde's arm, avoiding his gaze, but Mikaela doesn't need to see him to understand.

"You sure?"

"If I wasn't, would I be over here?"

"Yes."

Yuu stares at him for second before collapsing face first in his chest, "Whatever. I'm just cold."

"Mmhmm."

Mikaela flips them over and sifts through his bag for a container of coconut oil that he sets beside them, then unties both their cloaks. "What's that for? You said you brought it to keep our skin from cracking in the cold."

"I did and fortunately it also has other uses."

"Are you going to rub that on me?" Yuu questions with a suspicious look up at him. "My skin's not that dry."

"Well, I'm going to rub it somewhere," he answers with a smile.

Yuu shivers in the cold air as his shirt is tugged off and now he's starting to regret his decision, but Mika's sliding his pants down his legs faster than his hands can stop him. "Wait, can you get rid of the light?"

"Embarrassed?"

"No, it's just weird. I don't…"

"It's fine." The light is extinguished and they're plunged into darkness. Only now does he feel comfortable enough to let Mikaela remove his last remaining piece of clothing. It's nerve-wracking laying there nude with goosebumps popping up over his skin while Mikaela reaches a similar state of undress as him. Finally the other boy settles between his legs with a sigh and in the next second, Yuu flinches when a well oiled finger presses into him. _Now_ he knows what the coconut oil was for.

Mikaela gently and carefully works him open, making sure to use liberal amounts of oil. He pauses and a hot hardness is suddenly against him. Yuu sucks in a loud breath and feels the reassuring squeeze on his hip before there's a long, sharp pain, then everything feels so good. He's embarrassed by how good it feels, solid and hot inside him. His hips rock involuntarily and Yuu bites his lip to hold in his gasp of pleasure.

He loves this and he hates himself for it.

He had tried so hard, chose to starve rather than give up the last piece of himself and use his body for food and clothes. It was an option for a while until he'd gotten so thin, the price they would have paid wouldn't have been worth it. Those so called Aristocratic Nobles who looked down on everyone below them, yet would pay to have a young male warm their bed while they got lost in their own ecstasy.

And now look at him, on his back for something as meager as warmth. But who was he really kidding, it wasn't just the warmth. It was the warmth of _Mika_ , the closeness of him, of Mika running fingers through his hair and kissing his breath away, their mouths meeting again and again in the kisses that he'd been longing for.

For all his friendliness, Mika rarely lets him get this close emotionally. Even if it's only from convenience, he can't complain, he only came with the blonde out of convenience too.

" _Yuu-chan_ ," he breathes. "Pay attention. Stop thinking so much." Then there's a tongue against his lips, forcing his mouth open, and he can't hold back the moans with Mika there. It's not exactly how he wanted his first kisses with Mika to go, but he'll take it.

His fingers are buried deep in Mikaela's soft curls when the blonde tenses and pulls away from his mouth. Yuu whines in protest a split second before he feels it. Magic crawling inside his body and not just his own. It's strong and familiar, spreading throughout him. He can feel his own magic retreating deeper inside, but Mikaela's magic doesn't stop spreading and when it finally reaches his own, it latches on and forces its way through, molding Yuu's magic to itself.

Mikaela is tense above him, barely moving and Yuu can see the outline of his strained expression in the faint turquoise glow from their skin. This time, their magic doesn't stop once it's mixed, it shifts continuously back and forth between their bodies, heating his skin and changing him in ways he feels, but can't understand. It's pleasurable and soothing and he doesn't want it to stop.

"Mika…" Yuu whispers as the other teen tries to pull away from him again, but he's unwilling to break their connection. Mikaela resists as Yuu pulls him close again and presses their mouths back together. _Stop resisting._

The more skin contact they have, the stronger their magic seems to burn between them, drawing them together to the point of intensity and close to painful, then Mikaela can't resist his grip anymore. He finally lets their bodies meld back together and finishes what he started, leaving them both boneless and exhausted, yet content.

Yuu settles in the blankets and watches the various expressions shift over Mika's face in the residual glow before it eventually settles into neutrality. Mika turns to face him and Yuu gives in to the urge to shift closer to rest his head on his shoulder. He doesn't think he'd ever want to do that with anyone else. It was so intimate, almost too much with the way the magic merged them. Even now, he can still feel the lazy remnants of Mika's magic running over his skin warmly.

"Are you warm now?" _Guess we're not going to talk about it._

"My ass hurts."

"Was that your first time? I would have thought…"

"Well, you thought wrong!" Yuu snaps. And now he's wondering, did Mika? With the way he looks, he would have been highly sought after. Is that why he was resisting because Yuu was just another warm body to him? Did it only feel good to him? Is he the only one who wanted that connection between them?

"What are you thinking about, Yuu-chan? I can practically feel how agitated you are."

"Nothing."

"Yuu-chan."

"I didn't expect it to feel like that."

A beat of silence, "What were you expecting?"

"I don't know. For it to hurt and then be over."

"Ah."

"Between guys...I've only ever heard of one of them enjoying it."

"Well, I guess they were with the wrong person. You're okay and it didn't hurt me," he responds with a smile.

 _Did he really say that after trying to get away from me right in the middle?_ Yuu frowns and turns away from him, "Nothing ever hurts you."

A thumb rubs against the nape of his neck and he squirms away in the small space, "What do you mean, Yuu-chan?"

"..."

" _Yuu-chan._ "

Yuu flips back around to glare at him when Mika presses harder against his neck, "I meant that no matter what happens, you keep smiling. It's like you don't actually care about anything. Even after those three guys almost attacked you, you were back to smiling a second later!"

"...What good does frowning do?"

"What?"

"If I focused on the bad or let myself frown, how does that help? Growing up, did anyone care if you were upset about something?"

"No, but-"

"So, it didn't really help at all, did it? At least when you smile, people are more inclined to trust you. We do what need to in order to survive."

Yuu mulls over his words briefly, eyeing Mikaela's annoyed expression, so he was right. It is all a facade. "Does that mean you _aren't_ happy all the time?"

"Who knows? I'm happy when I'm with you and isn't that what matters right now?"

"No." _What matters is how you really feel._

Instead of responding, he reaches for Yuu, pulling him closer and kissing him again, grabbing hold and pinning his wrists down when Yuu tries to push him away. He takes the hint, Mika doesn't want to talk about it anymore. He's not going to get anything else out of Mikaela tonight, so Yuu gives in and lazily kisses him back until they both fall asleep.

~~~~~  
Morning is awkward.

Yuu wakes up still nude and with a headful of blonde hair on his chest. He is warm though, so there's that. He's not sure what last night meant, if anything at all, but he doesn't want to be here when Mikaela wakes up, so he carefully shuffles from under the blankets and pulls his clothes on before going outside and limping over to the fire pit. He's sore and confused.

They've crossed a line and he really _really_ shouldn't have given in so easily. He knows they're through after this journey and he's pretty sure if Mikaela had known how strongly he was starting to feel, he wouldn't have suggested last night. It was probably just something to pass the time for him, no wonder he pulled away when things got so unexpectedly strong.

Still, when their magic was intertwining, it gave him such a sense of belonging, like everything would be fine if they just stayed together like that. There's still a faint warmth lingering under his skin from the exchange and part of him hopes it never fades.

"Yuu-chan," a hand rests on his shoulder, pulling him from his thoughts and he flinches, unaware that the other boy had already woken up.

Mikaela hesitates, then sits a little away and starts the fire, but neither of them speak for a long while until the silence is too much for him to bear. "Um...we don't have to do that again." His statement is met with silence and Mikaela huffs. Could Yuu hear his reluctance? It's not his fault that despite whatever crazy magic shit was going on, he still really enjoyed it.

He liked feeling the strength of Yuu pushing back against him, of feeling strong, taunt muscles under his hands. Yuu's mouth hot and soft against his and even if he was slightly terrified at his magic involuntarily fusing with Yuu's, he liked how that felt too. Who could blame him?

"What are you thinking about?"

Mikaela looks up to see Yuu staring at him with narrowed eyes as if he can read his mind and he blushes, caught before he can hide it. "Nothing." Yuu turns away with identical red cheeks, not fooled for a second.

It's awkward.

"We shouldn't have done that," Yuu finally confesses.

"Why not?"

"Why? Because we're separating once we get out of this frozen place."

"I told you we didn't have to. I don't mind staying with you."

"I don't want you to not mind!" Yuu explodes, standing up and jabbing a finger in the other teen's direction. He sees Mikaela's confused look and that just makes everything worse, he's the only one stupid enough to care. "You're the worst." He was naive to think nothing would change afterwards.

As Yuu sits back down with his back towards him, Mikaela quickly flips back through his words, trying to figure out what set Yuu off and comes up empty.

The tense line of Yuu's shoulders leaves no opening for conversation and he doesn't push it, but the easy camaraderie they'd begun to share is gone.

~~~~~  
Mikaela lets their awkward atmosphere go on for a few days, Yuu keeps to his side of their shelter and really, he's just too stubborn for his own good. If Yuu would just speak to him, this could all be settled, but he won't reach out. He's reverted back to his sullen, terse manner and it's starting to grate on him.

It'd be easier to deal with if they weren't stuck in a confined space with the stagnant air between them for hours on end everytime a blizzard hit. As it is, after a few days, he's done tiptoeing around. Yuu is crossing in front of him to fill his canteen and he lunges, tackling Yuu face first into the snow. Even through the snow, he can hear the hot anger of Yuu's muffled screams.

With a resigned sigh, he eases up just enough for Yuu to flip over and scream at him some more before Mikaela places a hand over his mouth to cut him off, "What's wrong with you?"

"You're sitting on me!" Yuu replies after yanking his hand away. "Am I supposed to be happy that I'm going to be soaked after this?!"

" _Yuu-chan."_

Yuu lifts his chin and meets his gaze unflinchingly, pressing his lips into a thin line and putting all his irritation into every inch of his body language. That's fine, though. They can do this all day, he's not the one laying in the snow.

It only takes Yuu a few minutes to come to the same conclusion and he shifts uncomfortably and shivers, giving him another dirty look. Mikaela opens his mouth to say something, but Yuu beats him to it.

"Why'd you sleep with me?!"

Mikaela sits back to where his weight rests on Yuu's thighs and thinks. _Because you're cute and strong, tough and loyal and I like you and wanted to be with you._ He can't say any of that. "I don't know," he looks away from Yuu's searching gaze.

"Not good enough, Mikaela."

"Well, why did _you?_ "

" _I don't know_ ," Yuu answers sarcastically, but his red cheeks say otherwise.

"Then don't complain about me!" Yuu looks like he wants to say something, then growls something under his breath instead. "Sorry, I don't speak animal."

Yuu huffs and glares when Mikaela smiles sweetly at him. He's hyper aware of the other boy's weight resting on his thighs and the way the hand that's wiggled it's way under his layers is slowly sliding up his stomach making his breath catch. It's different now. He meets Mikaela's gaze and thinks they both left a lot of things unsaid, he doesn't know what Mika's really thinking, but that doesn't stop him from shuddering under the gentle touches. And when Mika finally stands up and pulls him back inside, he doesn't protest.

By the time the next blizzard dies down, Mika's asleep, warm and solid against him with an arm around his waist and his lower body aches _again._

Yuu presses a quick kiss to his forehead and murmurs, "I'm still mad at you." Mika huffs out a laugh and Yuu winces. _Or I thought he was asleep._ "If you're awake, let me go so I can get the other blanket. I'm cold."

"Nope," he answers, squeezing Yuu closer to him and just when he's about to complain, warmth spreads along his torso and up his body wherever Mika touches.

Yuu shifts into the warmth Mikaela's emitting for a brief minute until realization hits him, "You could have warmed us all along!"

"I _could_ have." Blue eyes sparkle up at him mischievously and Yuu feels himself falling all over again as his body hums with warmth and closeness. "But why waste magic when I don't have to?"

"You're so.. _.sneaky!_ Heal my butt then!"

Mika wrinkles his nose, " _No,_ I'm not touching your butt."

"You did before!"

" _So?"_

Yuu grabs his hand and places it firmly against him, "Heal me! I don't want to be sore again." Mikaela squeezes instead and Yuu lets out an undignified squawk before shoving him away and wrapping the blankets tight around him to the sound of the other boy's laughter. "Jerk."

"Hey, sorry, Yuu-chan," Mika forces the blanket down and looks at him with softly apologetic eyes. Yuu huffs, but opens the covers just enough to let Mika scoot in and snuggle with him.

And as they both drift off to sleep, he realizes that despite everything...he's happy.

~~~~~  
After their reconciliation, they move back into an easy camaraderie, even if it's not as effortless as it had once been becoming. They talk, but they don't really _talk._ They don't acknowledge what they're doing or how they feel about. It's in the air, but they've become adept at moving around it. Not even during the act, do they mention anything about it. It's easier for Yuu to pretend it's not happening because that means he doesn't have to think about his feelings or wonder about Mikaela's and what will happen at the end, they just exist...together.

Although, he's started to become more suspicious of the blonde recently. Mika only says nice things and he's never met anyone who's who's capable of solely positive thinking. Mika complained about his resistance to opening up, yet he can't help thinking that Mika's the one who needs to open up and he's had enough of it being one sided. If they're going to ignore the elephant in the room _and_ Mika wants his trust, he needs to earn it.

Yuu stomps over to where the other boy is lost in thought, idly making snow angels, and puts a foot on his torso, stilling his movements. "Mika."

"Yes, Yuu-chan?" He answers slowly.

"I want to talk to you."

"Okay, what's up?" Yuu drops onto his stomach, ignoring his grunt of discomfort and looks him in the eye. "I think you're lying to me."

"About what?"

"A lot of things!"

Mika grabs his hands to stop his fidgeting, "You'll have be more specific than that."

"I don't believe you're always happy."

"I never said I was. I said keeping a smile is more likely to get you what you need. It's self preservation."

Yuu scoffs, "So self preservation is the most important thing to you?"

"Of course. If I didn't do what needed doing, I wouldn't be here right now and then where would you be?"

The last part of the sentence comes out teasing, but the first part is what really catches his attention. He's remembering back when he found Mika surrounded by those three guys and the coldly calculating look in his eyes. It wasn't the look of someone who thought they were about to get hurt, it was the look of someone who's plotting their way out as efficiently as possible, no matter how.

Yuu leans forward until they're almost nose to nose, so he has a clear view at the way Mikaela's eyes go a little distant when he asks, "Would you have killed them if I hadn't shown up?"

Blue eyes stare at him unblinkingly, gauging his facial expression before answering with a simple, "Easily."

Yuu blinks in surprise, eyebrows furrowing with disbelief, "Really? All three?"

"I prioritize safety, Yuu-chan."

"Even if...people die?"

"Yes."

"But why?"

Mikaela squeezes his fingers, "People die all the time. I'm a survivor and if they intend to hurt me, I'll hurt them first. If killing them is the best solution then that's what I'll do." Yuu blinks again, taken aback. He's been proven right, but he didn't expect it to be put so bluntly. "Yuu-chan."

"Yeah?"

"It's only when necessary. I try to avoid trouble as much as possible, so things like that won't happen."

"Have you ever killed anyone?"

"...yes, _twice._ That's it."

"How?"

Mikaela studies him for a moment, then drops his eyes to the ground, "The first time was when I was thirteen, it was on one of the days where I'd had an incident at the orphanage and been kicked out for the day. I'd been wandering around town for hours and didn't realize someone was following me at first. I must have looked like such an easy target, clueless kid wandering around alone...he wasn't from our town. He didn't know that everyone avoided me. He tried to grab me, flashing his knife when I resisted and I was already really angry about being kicked out...I just lost it."

Yuu winces, imagining a powerful angry Mikaela with no control, if it was anything like he used to be, it probably ended very badly.

"I attacked, magic, fists, everything. I suppose I took out all my frustration on him, but afterwards he was dead."

"Then what?"

"I'm not proud of this, but I took his money to buy something to eat until I could go back home. Magic takes a lot of energy."

He sits back and absorbs the information, he never honestly thought Mikaela was capable of that. Maybe what happened to the second person is better left a mystery, but if one thing came out of this, it's that he was right. Mika has a hidden, colder side that he suspects he'll start to see more of now that it's out in the open.

The blonde shifts subtly and Yuu remembers he's still sitting on Mika, forcing information out of him. A question is on the tip of his tongue when he actually comprehends the guarded look on the other boy's face, the tense line of his eyebrows, the death grip on his fingers, and how taunt his body is beneath him.

And he realizes that Mika is waiting for his judgement, waiting for the second he decides to leave him, the same moment he, himself, had inevitably reached with every person he's met so far once they decide they're better off without him. He won't be the one to do that to Mika. He might doubt Mika's sincerity to the rest of the world, but Mika's never tried to hurt him.

This connection they're forming...Yuu thinks it can withstand something like this if they let it. They don't have to let this break them, he's not perfect and he won't hold Mika to higher standards. Questionable things are inevitable when you're trying to survive on your own. He'll show Mika he's trustworthy too, that he's someone who can be believed in.

Yuu relaxes his body and pries his fingers out of Mika's death grip before giving him a reassuring pat on the stomach. "Well, if it was only two people, then that's not so bad," he jokes to lighten the mood.

Mika relaxes incrementally and pushes Yuu gently off him, "I'm gonna go look for firewood."

"I'll come with you."

"It's okay, I'll be back." Yuu frowns, but stays seated on the ground as Mika walks away. They both know that's a lie, they've gathered what little firewood there is as far as the eye can see. He probably stirred up some memories that Mika never meant for him to know or better yet, wanted to be forgotten.

Mikaela doesn't even bother to pretend to look for firewood, instead he slumps to the ground behind the first mound of snow he comes to, effectively hiding himself from Yuu's sight as he pulls his knees up to his chest. _No. No. No!_

Yuu is starting to suspect him, but _how?_ He's been careful, he hasn't said anything, _done_ anything to make Yuu so suspicious. They haven't had any major issues, so _why_ does Yuu doubt him? Has he done so much bad that it will always show through no matter what? He's not asking for much, just a friend, but maybe even that's too much for him

He could see right through the false acceptance Yuu tried to show him. His shock was written clearly on his face, maybe even some fear. Probably regretting his decision once he realized he was stuck in the middle of nowhere with a killer, but he wouldn't hurt Yuu, at least not intentionally. Yuu's the closest he's been to another person in a while and he didn't let him in on a whim. The other teen means something to him and he doesn't want to let himself be pushed away so easily. Although if that becomes what Yuu wants, he won't force his presence on the other boy, he'll accept it and return to his life before with or without his friendship.

~~~~~  
His foot dips into the near freezing water and Yuu shivers, immediately yanking hit back out. He's expected to bathe in this? It's been a while, but still, he'll turn blue which is _not_ the type of color change he wanted.

He looks to the side where Mika's stripping off his clothes without any hesitation, nude skin bared to the world, and Yuu flushes. They've been sleeping together, yes, but it's not exactly in the way he wants. He wants more than the physical, more than the attraction they skirt around acknowledging. He's seen how easily people abandon each other when there's nothing more than the physical. They haven't kissed again since that one night, even though he's been dying to. To know if Mika would accept it or if it happened only because he was caught in the moment.

The not knowing is killing him.

Mika takes a seat next to him at the edge of the lake and honestly he's not sure how his butt doesn't stick to the frozen ground. "You getting in? You have to take off your clothes first," he teases.

"Maybe," Yuu answers vaguely, letting his eyes rest on the curve of the blonde's small smile. _It's now or never._ He leans over and covers Mikaela's mouth with his own for a few brief seconds before pulling away. Mika blinks back at him wordless and Yuu looks down, letting him slip into the water where goosebumps break out immediately along his skin.

"Are you just going to sit there, Yuu-chan?"

"Mika, that water is freezing, you're going to die."

"Well, we smell like…" he trails off awkwardly, but Yuu gets his meaning. He sighs, they really should figure this out. "Thirty seconds, that's it."

"That's nothing!" Ignoring Mika, he peels is clothes off quickly and submerges himself immediately. It's freezing, just like he thought. He doesn't even dunk his head before he's trying to crawl back to land, his toes already feeling like they're going numb. "That's no time at all!"

"So?"

"It's better to be clean and not stink like you!" Mika taunts as he swims backwards away from him.

"It's better not to die from hypothermia!" Yuu shoots back immediately.

"Oooohh, big word!"

"Shut up!" Yuu's hauling himself out when he's struck in the head by a snowball and goes flailing back into the water. He comes back up thoroughly soaked and choking on water to glare at Mikaela, "You ass!"

He shrugs, "Sometimes my powers are unpredictable, sorry Yuu-chan!"

"Liar!" He swims over and launches himself at the other boy, circling arms around his neck and dragging him down. Mika breaks free at the same time Yuu freezes in surprise. "Wait a minute...it's warm over here!"

"Is it?"

"You're using magic to warm the water while you let me freeze!"

"Well, you could always heat the water yourself," he replies, swimming in lazy circles.

"You know I don't know how, come back!"

"Just because you don't know how doesn't mean I have to suffer too," Mika replies blithely, making no move to swim closer towards him.

"You'll feel bad if I die!

"Will I though?"

"Mika, it's too cold for jokes!"

"Was that a joke?"

"I'm getting out," Yuu responds flatly.

"Wait, wait, come here," Mika hurries back to him and takes Yuu's freezing hands in his own, passing heat into them. He sighs as a wave of lazy warmth drifts through him and into the surrounding water, creating their own little area of comfort.

"Was that so hard?" Yuu questions as his muscles slowly relax into the water and he breathes out a sigh of relief.

"Maybe," Mika replies lightly. Yuu glances up at him where he has that same small smile as before and a teasing glint in his eyes. "You keep taking all my warmth from me."

Yuu holds his gaze, flexing his fingers slightly, "But you don't _really_ mind, do you?" He holds his breath, waiting for the other boy's response in the suddenly heavy atmosphere.

"...No, I suppose I don't."

He nods and steps closer, feeling his heart start to beat erratically, "Then you don't have anything to complain about." There's only a few inches of space between them that Yuu wants gone immediately. Mika must realize this because one moment he's on the receiving end of a sly smirk and the next second, Mika grabs his face and smashes their lips together in a messy kiss. "Mika, gross!" Yuu pushes the laughing blonde away and wipes his mouth with the back of his head, grimacing.

"Did I misunderstand? I thought you wanted to kiss me!"

"Not like that!"

"Okay, okay," he reaches for Yuu, pulling him closer by the waist before kissing him gently. Yuu exhales and tugs Mika closer to him as he deepens the kiss. There's no rush for either of them, Mika is just as content to take things slow as he is. It's not a passionate kiss, it's Mika giving him what he wants and Yuu finally getting what he's been unconsciously asking for.

Right there, in the small spot of heat of their own making, he gives up. No more hiding it, he wants this so bad, he aches. He can feel Mikaela's surprise when he lifts legs around his waist, letting the other boy support his weight, and pours all his loneliness and yearning into their kiss, but Mikaela doesn't drop him, only holds him tighter through his desperation to get his feelings across. And one thought echoes through Yuu's mind, _love me._

~~~~~  
They've been stuck in the glacial steppe for weeks now and Yuu's pretty sure he knows every part of Mika's body by now, physically and magically. Their magic has mixed so much that he only has to be near the other boy to sense the pull of his magic, a constant pull since he's always near. The feel of Mika's magic is almost as familiar as his own by now, intimate and a part of him. He probably should have exercised some restraint, but it's not like he could hold back forever. Letting go is _so_ much better.

So much of their time has been spent together, he might even miss these weeks they had with only each other isolated from the world, learning each other's quirks, likes, and dislikes. It's like their own little corner of the world where nothing matters except each other. Although, maybe next time they could pick someplace warmer to get stranded in. If there's a next time.

"Ow!" Yuu gives Mika a dirty look at the sharp pinch to his side.

"You got distracted. What are you thinking about?"

Yuu shifts under the other boy's weight and frowns, "What will you do after you meet the Mages?"

"Umm...I think I'll travel and then find somewhere nice to settle with a lot of land," he answers absently, stroking his fingers along Yuu's skin.

He's silent for a minute, mulling that plan over. "That sounds good. Let's do that."

" 'Let's?' You too?" _Thought you were leaving the first chance you got._

He presses his face into Mika's neck with a quiet hum, "Mhmm, why not."

"Then what? Adopt a few kids to live with us?" He jokes.

 _Kids that won't have to live on the streets like I did…_ "Yes, that too."

"Huh," Mika rolls over to the side of him and Yuu flinches when he feels him slide out. "Okay."

"Hey, wait, where are you going?"

"I feel it's a bit inappropriate to discuss adopting kids while we're doing…this."

"Okay wait," Yuu tugs him back over by the arm, "We can continue this conversation later then."

"Too late, you killed it."

"Ugh!" Mika settles down next to him and pulls the blankets up with a quiet sigh of satisfaction. Yuu allows this for a few seconds before abruptly kicking them off, "These blankets smell."

"Go wash them then."

"Fine, I will!" And Mika smiles as Yuu makes his way outside with the bundle of blankets because one, the smell never bothered Yuu before, he's just annoyed and two, he's almost positive Yuu didn't actually think about how to wash them and he's waiting for the moment Yuu realizes he got in over his head.

He lays back, resting his head on his hands and waiting for the inevitable moment Yuu calls for him. "Mika help!" Right on time. He's not disappointed to see Yuu soaked and half in the water struggling to pull up a waterlogged blanket, a laugh escapes before he can stop it. Yuu glares at him, "Help me!"

"I'm not sure what you expected to happen when you dumped a blanket in a lake…"

"Clearly, I expected it to get clean," Yuu snaps.

"No need to get mad, I'll help...fix your mistake."

"Mika…" Yuu begins warningly. "You're not the only one who can do magic here."

"Fine, fine. He gently shoves Yuu aside and begins dragging the heavy fabric out, slowly wringing it out. "You should go change before you get sick. Leave your clothes and I'll let them warm," he advises at the sight of Yuu's blue lips and shaking body.

"Alright."

Yuu drops his clothes in a soaking pile outside the entrance and dives under the one remaining dry blanket to keep his body temperature from dropping further. "Oh, so now the blankets don't smell?"

"Shut up, they're warm," Yuu mutters, perking up when Mikaela strips down too and slips under the blankets, wrapping himself around Yuu like an octopus. He sighs and snuggles in close, feeling Mika's arms tighten as another shiver passes through him. "You're so warm, it's like you're giving off heat." He pauses, '"Are you doing that warming thing again?"

"Yes, body heat warms people faster than a blanket as you well know."

"It's nice." _Very very nice, so nice I might just take a nap here…_ His eyes pop open what feels like only a second later when he feels the other boy pulling away. "Hey, wait. Stay here. I'm still cold."

"You were almost asleep and I'm checking on your clothes."

"Of course they're not dry, come back!"

"I'm giving you a chance to calm down."

"What?" Yuu sits up and immediately feels his hardness brush against the blanket. "Oh."

"Yep."

"Well, it's your fault! I didn't want to stop. You should've kept going," he huffs out.

Mika raises an eyebrow, "So, you're saying I should just give you what you want all the time?"

"Yes?"

"Okay." Mika leans back over to kiss him and Yuu eagerly clutches him closer, happy with this turn of events. Right up until Mika places two hands on his bare chest and shoves him backwards. "Sorry, Yuu-chan, if I did that, we'd never get anywhere."

He blinks in shock at the blonde's retreating back, he really thought he'd won there. Yuu tugs the blanket over his head and rolls over, at least he gets more kisses now.

~~~~~  
"Mika, come here!" Yuu gestures him over quickly, eyes focused downward.

"What is it?"

"This snow," Yuu points at the spinning swirl of snow a few inches away from him. "It moves by itself, it won't let me touch it."

Mikaela comes to stand next to him and nods, "It probably has traces of magic in it. We're getting closer to the Mages, so it makes sense we'd start to see more environmental magic. Kind of like that fruit you ate near the beginning."

"Oh," Yuu scowls, " _That._ "

"Mhmm." He laughs as Yuu sticks out his tongue and stomps off, apparently he's still not forgiven for that. Yuu gets a few feet away from before glancing back over his shoulder, tilting his head impatiently and Mikaela realizes Yuu doesn't actually want them to be apart. The minute he reaches the other boy, Yuu slides a hand into his and tugs him along at a faster pace easier now with lighter snow and emptier bags.

Mika smiles at Yuu's eagerness, surprised when a fond warmth blooms in his chest. _Oh._ He takes another look at Yuu's determined expression, feels the firmness of his grip, and that's when he realizes, he may just love Yuu back. _When did I let myself fall that far?_

"What's with that look?" Yuu frowns, "You look like you just realized something."

"Ah, nothing...although, can I kiss you?"

Yuu stumbles to a stop, " _What?_ Why?"

He shrugs a shoulder, "I just want to, so can I?"

A furious blush breaks out across Yuu's cheeks, "You never asked before," he mumbles. Despite not giving an answer, when he brings up a hand to cradle Yuu's cheek, Yuu presses forward to meet him halfway, fingers tightening around his own. Mika smiles against his mouth, warm and soft under his own, before pulling away and kissing Yuu on the cheek.

"Thanks."

"W-What? That's all you wanted?"

"Yeah, why, did you want to give me more?" He teases.

"No!" Yuu yells back, ignoring the blush making its way down his neck. "Let's just go! I'm tired of being cold."

The last part of their journey passes much like the first and finally the end of the steppe comes into view. Yuu shouts in joy and runs past him towards the most green they've seen in weeks.

"We survived!" Yuu shouts with glee, stepping past the last of the frost and towards the trees. He squats towards the ground, "Look, _green._ " Mika follows after him at a more sedate pace, stepping carefully over stray branches until he reaches Yuu.

"Mhmm." Yuu looks up to meet his gaze when he feels Mika's fingers press gently against the back of his neck. Their gazes meet and he can tell from Yuu's eyes that his own thoughts are clearly displayed across his face. _How much longer will I have you?_ "Once we get through the next city, we're there."

Yuu nods tightly and breaks eye contact, smile dimming, "Let's go."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

* * *

Yuu steps into the city, almost overwhelmed by all the noise and people. It feels like forever since he's heard anything other than Mika's voice and the wind. He almost misses the silence, even though it means they've survived the worst part of the journey.

Mika comes to a halt in front of him, debating on where they should go first. He doesn't really care what they do, although he'd like some food different than the dried rations they've been eating. After being isolated for so long, part of him still wants to find a quiet corner to cuddle up in with Mika and absorb everything.

It's far busier and livelier than previous cities he's passed through. There's a sense of luxury compared to where they've traveled from, he can see mages striding through the crowds with their cloaks flapping behind them and everyone seems to be in perfect health. He's never seen so many Mages before, it's peculiar seeing no one react to their presence as anything out of the ordinary. Then again, this is their land, humans may only be here through their benevolence.

The benevolence of the Mages who will take Mika from him.

Yuu hooks his chin over Mikaela's shoulder as the other boy studies their surroundings. His rests his fingers on his hips and lets himself relax into Mika. Physical affection comes so easily now, when did that happen he wonders. Yuu's pretty sure he's in love with the blonde by now. How Mikaela feels, he's not sure, but for him it happened slowly. Before he knew it, Mika and the pleasant hum that always seems to be between them began to feel like home.

"Yes, Yuu-chan?"

"Huh?"

"You keep squeezing my waist, you want attention?"

"No," Yuu squeezes once more and lets go, ignoring Mika's quizzical look. "I'm hungry."

"Let's find something to eat, then somewhere to stay."

"Something sweet?"

"You would think, after all those weeks your sweet tooth would be gone."

"Nah," Yuu grabs his wrist and drags him forward in the direction most people seem to be walking. "It made me realize just how good sweets are."

"Okay, but -"

"Yeah, yeah, we'll get something 'filling' for you too." Yuu shoots him a grin over his shoulder, "You think I don't know you well enough by now?"

"I don't know, Yuu-chan, I must have missed the part when you stopped resisting my friendship."

Yuu wrinkles his nose slightly at the word 'friendship,' but says nothing instead pushing Mika in front of a stall and pointing out what he wants. By the time they've satisfied their need for hot, fresh food and found a room, the sun has dipped far past the horizon and Yuu's looking forward to sleeping in an actual bed for the first time in years.

As he prepares for bed, it hits him. They're so far away from anything he's ever known, when they finally split, he'll be stuck in an unfamiliar city bigger than anywhere he's been. He has no idea what's in this part of the world, and there's no way he can cross the Glacial Steppe again by himself. He wouldn't have survived the first trip without Mika with him.

Worrying his bottom lip, Yuu sinks heavily onto his bed. _I really should have thought this through more._ He'd never meant to travel this far and now he's let his options dwindle to almost nothing. This place seems less than welcoming of strays too, he'd stick out like a sore thumb.

Yuu looks up when Mika stops in front of him and he notices his boots are still tied, "Where are you going?"

"Out, to ask questions."

"I'm going with you," he replies immediately, starting to stand up.

"No, Yuu-chan, it's fine." He pushes Yuu back onto the bed by his shoulders. "Stay here, I'll be back shortly. I just want to get a feel for the Mages and the city. You can go to sleep. I know you're tired, you've been nodding off against me all evening."

"I have not," Yuu mutters crossly.

He smiles back, "I'll see you in the morning."

Yuu drops back onto the bed as the door shuts. Mika is hiding from him again, there's no reason to insist he stay unless the blonde was up to something. Having secret meetings with the Mages? Maybe, but he doesn't believe for second that Mika only wanted him to stay because he looked tired. It's disappointing, but apparently their secrets are only laid bare when no one else is around.

~~~~~  
Mika can tell when something's bothering Yuu, probably the same thing bothering him. Their impending separation. Yuu may have spoken about them staying together afterwards, but if he meant that, he wouldn't be so anxious now. The other boy was practically chewing through his bottom lip in thought, that's a clear sign of stress that he can't miss.

After this visit, he's already planning his next months. He'll stay here through the worst part of winter and earn money, then as soon as Spring hits, he's heading South to warmer weather, beautiful scenery, and friendly people who know nothing about him. He's not sure where Yuu will go. One day he might wake up and find Yuu has disappeared on him during the night. He'll wake and Yuu will be gone, like he was never there. It hurts, but he can't force him to stay. The world is huge, Yuu probably also has places he wants to see too, now that he can survive long enough to get somewhere.

Mika enters a busy tavern and settles in a seat near the end of a crowded table. It's too much trouble to try and get hired for one night, it'd be faster to get a drink and skim from his little corner.

Mikaela heads towards the counter, carefully pulling a single coin from an open purse to his hand on the way. He reaches out to hand the coin over in payment and a hand slams his wrist down onto the bar, sending the coin falling to the ground.

"What do you think you're doing?"

He turns to the man pinning his wrist down with a smile, "I was about to pay for my drink."

"With stolen money? I don't think so."

Out of the corner of his eye, he notices people beginning to look in their direction and he tries to pry his wrist free from the man's iron grip, "I don't know what you're talking about, that's my money."

"You think I didn't see you with your magic trying to steal coins?" He leans closer, pressing Mikaela's back into the counter and growls out, "Don't you Mages have enough without stealing simple coins from us?"

"You're wrong, I'm not a Mage."

"That's even worse, stealing from your own kind." Without letting go of his wrist, the man reaches towards the ground and picks up the fallen coin, "Abel, I think this belongs to you."

"What?" The man he'd stolen from stands up from the table, face morphing into a scowl, and Mika curses internally.

"Yeah, I saw him take it from your pouch when you opened it to pay."

More eyes turn to look at them as the tavern grows quieter, everyone eager to see what happens next. Mikaela gives up all pretenses of innocence and uses his magic to shove the other man away with a gust and free his wrist. He turns towards the entrance, only to have Abel grab his wrist and the punch comes before he can block it, full of fury that he's ignited.

Pain explodes around his eye and Mikaela flails, letting his magic flow free in his panic. There's a sharp curse as his wrist is released and he bolts for the door without a second thought.

He darts back out into the night, sliding himself between people as best he can with only sight in one eye. As he drops into a crouch behind an abandoned stall, he takes a deep breath to slow his heart beat. Mikaela touches his eye gingerly and flinches at the sensitivity. It's already swelling shut, he needs to get back to their room fast. A blonde with a black eye is a lot more noticeable than he cares to be. Not to mention, they might still be looking for him.

Keeping his face towards the ground, Mika heads back to the inn, careful to keep a safe distance from other people. It's his own fault he got caught, Mikaela's well aware of that. In his arrogance, he hadn't bothered to observe his surroundings first. Those same tricks had provided well for him since he'd begun using them and stupidly he'd assumed, here so close to the Mages, that people would also be similarly fooled. Joke's on him, this is a whole new environment for him and he's going to remember that.

He tries to enter the room as quietly as possible to keep Yuu from waking up, but as he's slipping off the top layer of his clothes, Yuu stirs and shifts to face him, "Mika?"

"Of course, no one else is going to slip into your room at night," he jokes tensely.

Yuu rubs his eyes sleepily, "Did you find out anything?"

"Yeah," he lies absentmindedly.

"What did you find out?"

He grimaces slightly at his mistake, he should have thought that through more. "It's late and I'm a little tired now, I'll tell you in the morning, Yuu-chan."

"Hmm...okay, that's fine." Yuu replies, before sliding out of bed and reaching for him.

Mika immediately steps back out of reach, "What are you doing?"

In the dim light, he can just make out Yuu blinking in confusion, "I'm coming over."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Yuu-chan." He frowns and Mika can see he's starting to wake up all the way. "I'm really tired, we can talk about it in the morning?" Without waiting for Yuu's answer, he climbs into his bed and tugs the blanket up, shutting his eyes and waiting for the sound of Yuu climbing back into his own bed.

Instead the room's awash with light and his blanket is ripped away. Mikaela turns over to glare at the other boy instinctively and Yuu's eyes widen.

"Shit!" He curses, quickly turning back towards the wall.

"What the hell happened Mika?!" Yuu straddles him, yanking on his shoulder to get him to turn back around.

"Nothing."

"Mika, that's not nothing! Your eye is nearly swollen shut!"

"It'll heal by morning, Yuu-chan. Faster if I can _sleep._ "

Yuu gives up on forcing him over and slams out the door, only to return a few minutes later with a pouch of ice. "Mika, _what_ happened?"

"Nothing," he insists, burying his face back into his pillow. "It's just a little bruise."

Yuu tsks in annoyance before grabbing his chin and holding the ice over his eye, ignoring his wince at the pressure.

Mikaela sighs, "They're more attuned to magic here and I never considered that. Really, I'm fine, Yuu-chan."

"What did you do? I don't believe someone hit you just for using magic when they have so many Mages around here."

"I may...have been using magic in a way they didn't approve of and collecting resources."

" _Without me?_ You were stealing and got caught _again._ You could have gotten your ass kicked, Mika! I should have been there to help you, because you clearly you suck at it!"

He pulls back to stare at Yuu in disbelief, "If I recall correctly, I saved your life!"

"I saved you last time too!"

"Once!"

"That's all it takes, Mika!

"You're far more trouble than I could ever be," he replies, shoving Yuu's arm away.

"Put the ice back on your head," Yuu demands in annoyance.

"It's fine!"

Yuu grabs him by the face again and presses the ice back onto his eye, "You call me reckless, yet you're out there getting beat up. Don't be such a hypocrite." Yuu lets go, letting the melting pouch of ice drop into his lap before getting up and going back to his own bed, turning the lamp off on his way.

Mikaela shoves the ice aside and lies there quietly, somehow he can sense that Yuu is still pissed at him. The other boy is never that still when falling asleep, always tossing and turning or pulling at him.

He's just beginning to doze off when a quiet whisper reaches him, "Come here."

"Why?"

"I want to touch you."

He pauses, "I don't know if you noticed, but my eye is kind of injured."

"I said _touch_ , you ass!"

"Are you trying to say you want to cuddle?" He questions back with a small smile.

"So, what if I am, get over here." Mika gives a breathless laugh as Yuu opens the blankets on his own twin bed to allow him to crawl between Yuu's legs and rest his head against Yuu's chest. Arms encircle him and he feels Yuu's head drop to rest against his. _Be more careful_ is whispered into his hair and Yuu squeezes him tighter. "I don't want to lose you."

"I'm sorry, Yuu-chan, I really didn't think I'd get caught."

"Apology not accepted, next time I'm coming with you."

"Fine," he yawns, already feeling his body growing heavy with exhaustion.

"I'm serious, Mika."

"Mmm, me too," he smiles briefly as Yuu mumbles something profane before shifting him up higher. The pleasant feeling inside him settles back into place and he falls asleep feeling Yuu's answering magic.

~~~~~  
The next day, they decide to stay mostly out of sight in case anyone from last night wasn't drunk enough and still remembers Mikaela's face. So after breakfast, they head towards the forest where it seems a majority of the Mages arrive and depart from.

When the flow of people has lessened, they follow the path that leads to 'Sanguinem' until they come to a crystal blue lake with nothing but a steep rock face behind it. Yuu peers between the lake and the top of the rock face which he can't even see. "Is this it? Did we take a wrong turn?"

"Nope, this is the way. They don't want unwelcome humans visiting." Mika gestures to the natural barrier, "The only way in is to swim under through the lake or fly over, both easily done by Mages."

"And how are _we_ supposed to get in? That's a long way to swim and I can't fly."

"That's what magic's for when we decide to leave here tomorrow, our magic combined should give us enough time for our air bubble to last until we make it through."

Yuu stares back at him blankly, "And if it doesn't?"

"We drown, obviously."

He shakes his head, "We can't go a day without you revealing that I'm going to have to risk my life, can we? Whatever let's head back, it's almost lunch."

Mika blinks in surprise, "You're not going to argue with me?"

Yuu shrugs, heading back into the forest, "What's the point anymore? It doesn't change anything, that's the way we have to go and I'll have to trust you know what you're doing."

He jogs ahead and turns back to face Yuu, walking backward, "That means a lot, that you're finally starting to trust me."

"Don't get too excited…" Yuu breaks off when he hears what sounds like a large animal charging through the forest right for them. He looks up to tell Mika to run and something bigger than him slams into his body and sends him to the ground.

"Yuu-chan!" Mika calls for him from somewhere behind the sudden crowd of people blocking his view.

"I'm so sorry," Yuu blinks up into apologetic grass green eyes and a hand is reached down to pull him up. "We weren't watching where we were going, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he answers, shaking the hand off and moving towards Mika who pulls him closer.

"Who just stands in the middle of the path anyway?"

Yuu whips around to see who said that and for the first time notices the tense posture and wary gaze of the group of four people who ran into them. The boy who helped him up has a large stick in his hand and the pink haired guy who spoke has a knife clenched tightly in his right hand.

Yuu purposely shifts his body so that Mika is behind him, out of the newcomer's direct line of sight and attack, and the purple haired girl with them laughs. "No need to be so serious, we're not here to fight. Well, not you at least."

His eyes narrow over their weapons, "So, you're just running around the forest with weapons for no reason?"

"We were heading back to our campsite, you just happened to be in the way."

"Yuu-chan," Mika tugs at his wrist, "Let's just go, if they're in trouble, we don't want to get involved."

"We're not in trouble!" A blonde girl in pigtails yells out, "We're just not as stupid as you to travel through the forest unprotected."

"There's a bunch of people walking around here, what's going to get us?"

"Well, for one," the pink haired boy interjects again. "If we had meant you harm, you would have been defenseless against us and our weapons. Better safe than sorry."

Yuu steps forward, "I wouldn't exactly say we're defenseless."

The green eyed boy steps back in front of him, "I'm Yoichi, we really didn't mean any harm, we're just tense because you never know who to trust out here. As an apology, you can have lunch with us, our campsite isn't far."

"Sounds like a trap."

"If you're not 'defenseless,' then you should be able to fight your way out, shouldn't you?"

" _Shihou_." He flashes the other boy a warning look, "Ignore him, it's not a trap. He's -"

"Kimizuki to them!"

Yoichi rolls his eyes, "Yes, he's Kimizuki and that's Shinoa and Mitsuba, we're all staying together."

"You said campsite, you don't live here?" Mikaela questions, finally acknowledging their presence.

"No, we're from one of the smaller towns, visitors like you. Don't try to deny it, your accent gives it away."

Yuu lights up, "There are other towns around here."

"Of course," Mitsuba frowns at him, "Not everyone wants to live right under the thumbs of the Mages. Most people who live this close to Sanguinem do so because it's convenient and they get the most benefit from the Mages' technology."

 _Other towns? Maybe I won't have to cross the entire Glacial Steppe by myself after all. Maybe there's somewhere for me here!_ "Tell me about the other towns!"

"Sure, over lunch," Yoichi answers with a smile.

"Alright, let's go!" Yuu follows after the others and realizes Mika isn't behind him, in fact he hasn't moved from his spot. He looks back to see Mika staring at the backs of the other four, eyes colder than he's ever seen them. Yuu shivers, unused to the lack of warmth. "Mika?" Yuu slides a hand up his forearm and the other boy moves his arm away, Yuu pulls back in hurt. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He walks past Yuu and he doesn't try to reach for him again.

They sit on the ground around the remains of a campfire, eating a slightly spicy dish that they handed out in bowls while the others take turns telling Yuu about the city they're from. It sounds perfect to him, mostly farming towns, friendly people, and if you work, you eat, simple as that.

The one thing that bothers him the most though is that Mika barely speaks a word other than thanks. He's distant and Yuu is worried. Even when they first met, Mika had never been like this with him before and he can't tell what the blonde is thinking.

"Yuu, where are you two headed?"

"Hm? Us? I'm not sure, one of those towns sounds nice to stay in for a while. I know I don't want to stay here. Maybe when you leave to return home, I will too." The four of them exchange a look and Yuu tries not to be disappointed. Of course they had seemed nice, but it's not surprising they wouldn't actually want him around. "Or not," he jokes lightly. "I'm sure I could find my way there."

"No, no, it's not that," Yoichi rushes to reassure. "We just have some things to finish here before we go and that might take a while."

"Things like what?" They all look at each other again and Yuu scowls. "If you don't want to say it, then don't!"

Something passes between them all again before Mitsuba leans forward, gaze flickering to Mika for a brief second. "You're not from around here, so you don't how things are here and for the most part the strongest Mages leave us alone to do as we please. Of course we all still know they're the ones who are really in charge. The issue arises with those who aren't as powerful or who don't have as much authority, an inferiority complex if you want to call it that."

Yuu leans back, having a bad idea that what's coming next won't be good.

"They occasionally make deals with the humans and deal with us more directly, in exchange for favors or influence, things that are beneficial to both parties. One of these men from another village had an issue with someone in ours and made a deal with a Mage. This Mage helped him burn down half of our village. Several people died and our food stores were destroyed, yet no one will lift a finger for revenge because he's a Mage."

"And we want retribution," Kimizuki finishes. "It'll be a hard season with so little food and after we take care of him, we're going back home to help out where we can."

Yuu's gaze flicks between their faces, all of them even Yoichi's set in a grim mask, "You're going to kill him?"

"If that's what it takes, we're not stupid enough to go against a full blown Mage, but the man who ordered the attack is far from untouchable. He's human just like us."

"It's just you four going after him?"

"We're strong and what he did was wrong, we can do it."

Yuu meets each of their eyes and sees with absolute positivity that they're going to get payback for their families. He can't blame them, if he had family to protect and someone hurt them, he might do something just as serious. His gaze lingers on Mika in his peripheral vision before locking back on Kimizuki, "I'll help too."

"What?" Mitsuba exclaims, standing up and peering down at him. "This isn't some game!"

He narrows his eyes at her and sets his chin, "It's not right, he burned all your food and cost lives. I'll help you, then go back with you to your village."

"I don't think you know what you're volunteering for, you could get hurt. We're putting our _lives_ on the line for this."

"I'm not afraid."

"Yuu-chan, no."

He looks towards Mikaela at the sound of the first words he's spoken throughout the entire exchange, "Why not?"

"Because it's dangerous and has nothing to do with us."

"So? It's the right thing to do and they have the right to protect what's theirs."

Mika hands his bowl back to Yoichi with a nod of thanks, "It's not our fight and they didn't ask for our help."

"It wouldn't be unwelcome, though!" Shinoa interjects with a wave of her hand.

"Your fight wasn't my fight, but I still helped you," Yuu argues back.

"That was different!"

"No, it wasn't!" Yuu clenches his fist and stares Mikaela down, "I risked my life then too and _you_ taught me it's okay to rely on someone. It goes both ways, Mika."

"No."

"You don't have to help."

"Good, because I'm not going to."

"But I am."

Mika glares at him, blue eyes dark and cold again, "Do what you want." Yuu jumps to his feet as Mika disappears into the trees, head turning back and forth between the trees and the four people he's just met. It's difficult, he wants them to like him, but he also loves Mika and it feels like he's being stretched in two. Side with Mika and lose four potential friends or stick with them and lose Mika. It's too heavy of a choice right now, not when he's still trying to find his place.

He looks back down to the expectant faces and nods, "I'll help you, but I just need to talk to Mika. He'll probably come around," Yuu reassures them before running after the other boy.

~~~~~  
" _Yuu is warm. Of course they would like him,"_ Mikaela mutters to himself as he walks back to the city, speeding up when he hears hurried footsteps behind him. " _Warm and good hearted, too damn trusting for his own good."_

Yuu grabs his arm and pulls him to a halt, "Mika!"

"What?" He demands, resisting the urge to pull his arm away again. "What do you possibly need to say that's more important than plotting what might get you killed?"

"Mika, would you just look at me?" He insists, tugging harder on his arm.

"Nope, I don't particularly want to look at you right now."

"Mika! Seriously, I'm trying to talk to you."

He finally shakes his arm free with a sigh, turning to face Yuu and frowning at him, "What?"

"I think we should help them."

"I'm leaving."

"Mika!" Yuu darts into his path and holds his arms up, "Just hear me out. They don't deserve what happened to them and they're trying to fix it."

"Did we deserve to be orphans? No, but it happened anyway, sometimes we just have to deal with the hand we're dealt."

"And _sometimes,_ we do our best to fight for what we want."

"You know, interesting words from you considering you were on the verge of giving up and dying when I found you."

"I'd lasted long enough, but that's not the point! Although, since you brought that up, I survived because of _you."_ He looks at Mika meaningfully, "You saved me and dragged me along with you and made me rely on you and taught me stupid things like it's okay to believe in someone and ask for help."

"You're right, that _is_ incredibly stupid."

"It's not and you know it." Yuu grabs his hand and intertwines their fingers, "You know it's hard to survive alone and you taught me friendship."

Mika stares back at him, annoyed that Yuu is actually trying to convince him to risk his life for strangers he's just met. He's so close to realizing his goal and getting wrapped up in someone else's problems is the last thing he wants.

Is this really his doing? He turned Yuu from someone who was hesitant to put in trust in others into someone eager to put his life on the line? If so, he really should have taught the other boy to be more selective with who he helps. He's not completely ignorant of at least part of Yuu's reason for helping them, if he helps them, he can belong with them. Yuu is planning for his time after they separate just as much as he is.

Still, he won't lose Yuu to some reckless strangers who came out of nowhere. They've grown too close for that, they know each other better than anyone else. Which is why he also knows Yuu won't back down about this right now, but he won't give in either.

"I didn't teach you to trust everyone and anyone."

Yuu squeezes his hand, "I don't, but they-"

Mika cuts him off with an abrupt kiss, finally letting his fingers wrap around Yuu's own, "I don't want to spend our last days together arguing."

He watches as Yuu pauses to let the words the sink in, "Then _promise_ you'll think about it and we can drop it."

A noncommittal hum is the best he can muster up and it seems to satisfy Yuu for now, although he already knows it's not over yet. He doesn't trust them and letting Yuu get wrapped up in their plan is one of the worst things he can think of letting happen right now.

They spend the rest of the day exploring the town, making sure to stay far away from any pubs or the general area of where he was punched. It's not an experience he's eager to repeat, so instead he lets Yuu take the lead, popping into different shops to explore and handing over copper coins for samples. They're in a bookstore when Yuu turns to him and shoves a dusty book in his face.

"Look, Mika!" He jabs at their current town on the map, "This is where we are and all these other little places are the cities around us! There's so many options, it's completely different from where we came from. And look! If we'd gone a different way on the Glacial Steppe, we'd have ended up in a different part of the world and past these other places are more people! The world is huge!"

"You didn't know?"

"No!" Yuu shoves the book into his arms, "I had better things to do than sit around a bookstore and I don't think the ones we had there covered this much information. Read me about the place to the East near all the water!"

"The Scented Hills? I was planning on going there eventually."

Yuu blinks at him, "When?"

"Not sure," he shrugs. "There were a lot of places I wanted to see, this was just one. After I leave here, I'm free to see things at my own pace."

"That was your plan from the beginning?"

"Of course," Mika replied, handing the book back to Yuu. "I have no intention of staying with the Mages _if_ they even wanted me to."

Yuu hums thoughtfully and places the book back on the shelf, "Let's go find dinner." Once they're settled at a table with their food, Yuu picks their conversation right back up from where he'd hoped it would stay dead. "So, did you think about it more?"

"No."

"Mika!" He stabs a potato and purposely chews slowly just to show how unbothered he is by Yuu's annoyance. "Fine, you stay and I'll go and hear their plan."

"Yuu-chan!"

"Nope, you don't want to, you don't have to. I will." He opens his mouth to argue and Yuu pulls the same dirty trick that he, himself, used earlier, kissing him to shut him up. "My mind's made up. I'll meet you back at the room tonight."

He still wants to argue his point, but he knows it's useless by now. Yuu is just as stubborn as he is, if he says he's going to listen to them, then he will. Later that night, he lies awake, staring out the window, willing the hum in his body to settle, but without Yuu here and without the reassurance that he's okay, his magic refuses to settle. It shifts and stirs, restless without Yuu's presence near him.

He's not sure if their bond will be strong enough to survive the outside interference that divides them and he has the thought that things were much easier when they were isolated.

~~~~~  
Yuu creeps back along the forest path, ears alert for anything suspicious, but he makes it back to the clearing without incident. They all rise to greet him and he's quickly ushered into their circle where plans are being made.

They break down the plan, tomorrow night, Akihiko, the man who had their village burned down, and Lucal Wesker, the man responsible for doing the deed, will be together at Akihiko's estate. They will split into two groups of three, one group will break into the gold stores for restitution and the other group will begin a targeted assault to destroy something of value for a distraction. Once, they've retrieved the gold, both groups will depart together.

It's a simple, easy plan the way Kimizuki describes it. Get in, get out, and no contact which Yuu is relieved to find out. They only mentioned killing to see if he was really willing to help them, none of them have the appetite for more bloodshed than there's already been.

"So, now that you know the plan, is it just us five? No Mikaela?" Shinoa questions him.

Yuu gives a small smile in apology, "I couldn't get him to join, he didn't even want to listen. In the end, neither of us wanted to keep fighting about it."

"I don't understand how you two are together so much," Mitsuba replies. "It's so weird, you can be angry with each other, but once he's next to you, you just relax. When we first ran into you guys, you were hostile, but he just kind of touched your wrist and you relaxed. Even now, you sound fine and your body language is open, you're just still tense. I bet if he was here, you'd be calmer immediately."

Yuu shrugs, then drops his shoulders. What can he say? He hadn't noticed anything Mitsuba had listed, hadn't even realized how stiff his shoulders were. He's aware his magic gets restless sometimes when Mika isn't around, but he didn't know it was apparent physically too. Although, by now, it's only natural that he's become so used to Mika's presence, they've been each other's constant for weeks now.

"You're like complete opposites," Shinoa picks up. "You're willing to help and he's kind of an asshole. It makes no sense how you two get along so well, he's so cold hearted and unkind."

Yuu bristles in Mika's defense, "He's better than any of you!" Would they even still be talking to him if he was still that dirty street orphan from before? Would they even trust him like they do now? Mika did, never even hesitated. "Mika's a lot more caring than you think! Maybe he just doesn't like violence!"

Shinoa tilts her head to the side, letting her eyes gaze over him from head to toe, "Are you fucking him?"

"Shinoa!" Mitsuba immediately claps a hand over the shorter girl's mouth. "Forgive her, she was raised in a barn."

"Let's just calm down everyone," Yoichi placates. "Yuu has agreed to help and we have a plan in place. Can we all just focus on that?"

"Fine," Yuu relaxes his fists. "But, don't talk about Mika like that again."

"Of course not, Yuu."

"I'm heading back. I'll see you guys tomorrow night."

Yuu quietly slips back into their room, shedding his boots and cloak before climbing onto Mika's bed and straddling him. "Mika? You awake?" Silence. "Mika, wake up." He twists his fingers to summon a small orb of light and leans down closer when he catches sight of the puffy, swollen skin around Mika's eyes. "Mika, wake up!"

Mikaela's eyes blink open in confusion and squint at the light shining in his eyes, "Yuu-chan? What are you doing?"

"Were you crying?"

"What? No."

"Mika, I can see your face." Yuu brushes a thumb over the reddened skin, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!"

"Never thought you'd be the crybaby. What's making Mika sad?"

"I'm _not."_ Mikaela protests, voice cracking on the last word.

"Mhmm," Yuu pulls his head closer. "My crybaby."

"Go sleep in your own bed!"

Rather than answer, Yuu leans forward and licks his cheek to scoop up one of the tears making its way down his face, "Tastes salty."

"Yuu-chan!"

"If you weren't crying, I wouldn't be able to do that."

"I wasn't crying until you came in here and woke me up!" Mika rolls over, dislodging Yuu, and pulls his blanket back up. "I'm going back to sleep."

Yuu sighs and scoot forward to spoon him and bury his nose in the curve of Mika's neck, "I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong."

"Right, well I'll tell you the plan."

" _Now?"_

"Yes," he snuggles in closer. "So, it's pretty simple. We're going to split into two groups. One group will hit his gold stores and the other will create a distraction. No contact at all."

"And which one will you be in?"

"Considering I can start a fire much easier than anybody else, I'll be in the group making a distraction."

"Yuu-chan…"

Yuu squeezes him tighter, "It'll be _fine,_ then we can get out of here and you can stop worrying."

Mika turns to face him, "I don't believe for a second that it'll go that easy." He hesitates, "I'm coming with you.

Yuu lights up immediately, " _Really?"_

"I'm going for _you_ , no one else," Mika warns. "Don't expect me to throw myself in the line of fire."

"Of course not!" Yuu reaches for his face and kisses him, "Thank you! I know we'll do better with you there!"

"Or at least not dead," he mutters.

"I believe in us, we're strong!"

Mika rolls his eyes, but doesn't bother to protest.

~~~~~  
The next night Mika comes with Yuu to meet the others at their designated spot. The other four greet them in surprise and Mika returns it in a less than friendly manner, choosing to stick close to Yuu's side instead. Yuu sighs, he hadn't expected anything more given Mika's reluctance and obvious distaste for the entire plan.

"Mika, it's great you came. We could use an extra body to carry gold."

Mika stares at the purple haired girl flatly, "That's not the team Yuu is on."

"Well, no.." Shinoa begins.

"I'm going with Yuu-chan. I only agreed to come along to make sure nothing happens to him."

"But-" Kimizuki protests.

"Leave it," Shinoa interrupts. "Happy to have you," she adds with a smile.

Together the six of them make their way towards the estate, staying in the cover of trees for the most part in case someone arriving catches sight of them.

The compound looms over them, three stories of brick and surrounded by a stone gate. The gates stand wide open admitting a constant stream of guests. "Are we sneaking in with them?" Yuu questions.

"No," Mitsuba answers, "That's too risky. There's a blind spot around back while everyone is watching the entrance. We're going to climb the wall from there."

"Then how are we supposed to escape? They'll catch us trying to climb wall."

"In the chaos, it'll be easy for us to slip out through the front with anyone else. We just have to avoid getting caught until we reach the gates."

"Mitsuba will go with Yuu and Mika for the distraction," Shinoa states. "The rest of us will raid the gold stores. Let's go."

They reach the back corner of the compound and one by one climb up the tree and drop down on the other side of the gate. From there, they split off into their separate directions.

Yuu's group crouches in the shadows to give the other three a chance to get into position so they have as much time as possible once they start the distraction.

"Look," Mistuba gestures to the stable. "It's made of wood and nobody is around, it's the perfect target." She pulls the fire starting tools from her bag to prepare.

"But, what about the animals inside?" Yuu questions.

Mitsuba gives him a funny look, "You're going to jeopardize the plan over _animals_?"

"No," Yuu defends, "I'm just saying, I don't want them to burn alive."

"Fine," Mitsuba sighs with a roll of her eyes. "I'll open their gates, so they can all escape. _You_ start the fire then." She drops the tools to the ground and runs off towards the stable.

Yuu glances over at Mika's impassive face and nods, guess he really is doing this all on his own. He brings his hands together and concentrates, summoning the biggest fireball he's ever made. He throws it towards the barn and immediately the whole stable goes up in flames. _Whoops, overkill_.

"Yuu-chan!"

"Sorry!" He shrugs with a grin. "It's been a while since I've used magic, I gotta let it be free!"

"What did you do?" Mitsuba hisses at him once she rejoins them, eyes still wide from shock. "I barely got the gates open and myself out before the whole thing caught fire!"

"I just lit the fire! Maybe the barn was really flammable!"

Mitsuba shakes her head, "We needed a slowly growing distraction, now everyone will come running faster."

"Isn't that good?"

"No, they'll be on guard now, this doesn't even look natural."

Yuu scratches the back of his head with downcast eyes, "Sorry, I was just trying to help."

"Someone needs to go help the others and let them know they'll have to move faster."

"I will!" Yuu volunteers."

"I'll go with you, Yuu-chan." Mitsuba hesitates, then nods. Yuu grabs Mika's hand and tugs him in the direction the others went.

"Are you mad at me, Mika?"

"No, I don't care how this plan turns out."

They stop near Yoichi whose quickly packing pouches of gold into the waiting bags. "Yoichi! The distraction didn't go as planned, we have to move faster. It won't last long!"

Yoichi flinches at their sudden arrival, but nods. When Shinoa drops another pouch, Yoichi calls out to her urgently, telling her to grab Kimizuki and get out. She nods before disappearing and reappearing with Kimizuki at the window.

They jump down together, landing with a roll, and rapidly helping Yoichi pack the bags. Kimizuki hands a bag out to Mika and the blonde stares back blankly. Yuu grabs it instead, pulling it over his head, and shooting Mika a dirty look.

Yuu takes off towards the entrance, only getting a few feet when there's a sudden shout behind them. Mika grabs his arm, propelling him forward until a blast of magic rips up the ground behind them and sends them all to the dirt. Mikaela pulls Yuu to his feet and urges him to keep running.

Stumbling, Yuu struggles to keep pace with him while still carrying the bag weighed down with gold. Yoichi yells and Yuu turns back to see that Kimizuki has been caught by two guards. "Mika, wait!" Yuu digs his heels into the ground to stop them. "Kimizuki's been caught, we have to go back!"

"No, Yuu-chan, it's too dangerous now! We have to get away before they catch us too!

Yuu yanks his arm free from Mika's grip, "I can't leave them!"

Mika yells in frustration as Yuu runs back, already summoning fire. He launches it and it's immediately extinguished by a torrent of water. Yuu glances up in shock to see Lukal Wesker staring at him while Yoichi and Shinoa waver between running or going back for Kimizuki.

Lukal eyes him disparagingly, "You must be the one who started that fire, another impure breed born with a bit of magic. No punishment for eliminating a trouble maker like you."

Faster than Yuu's eyes can catch, Lukal is racing towards him and he stumbles back, struggling to summon his own magic through his panic. _I'm not strong enough to take on a full Mage._

Yuu slips and a hand grabs onto his shoulder, then there's a flash of blonde before Yuu sees magic coalesce into a bright blue blade. There's the snick of a blade cutting through flesh followed by the sight of trails of blue magic flying towards the guards behind Lukal.

He hits the ground, eyes wide with shock as Lukal falls to the ground, blood gushing from his chest wound. Behind him, he can see the other two helping Kimizuki to his feet, now that the two guards holding him are unconscious.

Mika grabs him by the shirt and hauls him up, "If you do that again, next time I'll leave you!"

He can barely keep his footing as Mika drags him towards the entrance, shooting blast after blast to cover their exit. Mitsuba joins them outside the gate and they flee, not in the direction of town where they'll be expected to go, but opposite, deeper into the surrounding land.

Yuu's almost reached the end of his stamina when Mika releases him and turns on the other four in their party. "Leave! You've caused us enough trouble!" He rips the bag off Yuu's shoulders and throws it at their feet. They glance from the bag to Yuu and it only ignites Mika's anger further. "Don't look at him! He can leave too if he wants you to stay!"

"Mika," Yuu begins. "It's not their fault…"

"It's their fault for involving you in this and _yours_ for choosing it!"

Yuu grows angry himself, Mika didn't have to come along, he _chose_ too and these are his friends now too. There's nothing wrong with helping them. "There's risk to everything, Mika! While you wanted to stay safe and hide, I wanted to help my friends!"

"Friends?" Mika laughs. "You don't even know them!"

"You didn't have to come!"

"Would you rather I let you _die_?"

"I wouldn't have died!"

"Don't lie to yourself," Mika scoffs, then shakes his head in resignation. "Do what you want, Yuu-chan. Go with them, start your new life. You've finished our agreement."

Yuu watches in hurt and surprise as Mika actually walks away, vanishing the blade in a flurry of sparks and he can't believe their journey together is actually over, ended here in the forest. In anger.

Everything of the past two months thrown aside like it was nothing.

"Yuu," Shinoa touches his shoulder gently. "We need to get away from here."

"Yeah," he nods, trailing after them with a backwards glance at Mika who hasn't moved from the spot he's taken up. Who won't even look at him.

Yoichi gives him a sympathetic look and Yuu picks up his dropped bag to run with them, fighting down the growing sense of loss he feels. They run, still fueled by adrenaline until Yuu jolts to a stop, a painful ache in his chest leaving him short of breath and shaking.

"I...can't. I'm sorry, I can't go with you. Go on without me" He turns away from their surprised looks and runs back the way he came, feeling the ache lessen with each step. Mika's right where he left him, sitting alone, and staring unseeingly into the night. His posture looks so defeated and hopeless.

Surrounded by shadows, Yuu can remember how that wasn't the first time Mika has killed someone. The weight of those burdens on his shoulders, carrying them alone. Always, _always_ with the mask in place, except for now. Now, when there's no one around to see, Mika doesn't bother pretending anymore. He can practically feel the sadness and pain rolling off of him.

Yuu quietly steps forward and drops to his knees, wrapping his arms around Mika's shoulders and burying his face in the curve of Mika's neck with a sigh. Mika tries to jerk away immediately, but Yuu merely tightens his hold.

"What are you doing back here?"

"I don't want to go with them."

"That's not what it looked like."

"I know," Yuu drops his arms and takes a seat next to him, taking his hand and tracing light circles against the inside of his wrist. He leans his head against Mika's shoulder, "I'm sorry, Mika."

There's silence and he almost believes he won't get a response back until Mika quietly replies, "You will be the death of me, Yuu-chan."

Yuu turns to look at him and his sad smile confirms he meant it. Instead of defending himself, Yuu lowers his face to their joined hands and kisses Mika's palm, then up his arm, stopping with a kiss pressed into the inside of his elbow, "I love you, Mikaela."

After no response, he glances up to see Mika looking away from him, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Mika?"

"..."

Yuu turns Mika to look at him and cradles his face between his palms, cerulean eyes brimming over with emotion and it hurts his heart. "I'm serious, Mika. I won't leave you."

"Yeah, right," he chokes out, voice thick with tears. "You don't have to pretend, I know you hate that I killed him so easily. I saw your face."

"It doesn't matter to me. I said I love you and I mean it."

Mika takes a shuddering breath, breaking eye contact, and they lapse into silence. Yuu presses a kiss into his cheek and lets go, leaning back onto his hands to give Mika the space he needs.

After what feels like hours, there's no change. Mika hasn't spoken to him again or moved at all. It worries him. He doesn't know what's going on inside the blonde's head, it's so silent out here and he can physically feel the distance between them now. That ease they previously had is strained to the point of being nearly invisible and Yuu has the horrible thought that Mika is so quiet and won't touch him back because he's preparing to leave him the first second he gets.

There's a buzzing starting up his head and he doesn't want to imagine losing him. It's not fair or right, Mika should be with _him._ Yuu sits up, letting his fingers stroke through blonde curls before turning Mika's head and drawing him into a kiss that he doesn't return.

Yuu feels a spark of panicked frustration go through him and he pushes Mika onto his back and climbs on top of him, kissing him desperately. Mika turns his head to the side to avoid his lips, "Yuu?" Instead of answering, he turns Mika back towards him, unable to break their contact for even a second. It feels like he'll lose him forever if he does.

He can feel his magic clamping down around them, seething forward in an unrestrained wave trying to mix with Mika's. His hands go to Mika's pants and the blonde protests, telling him to wait, but he can't. Yuu shakes his head, tightening his grip and feeling all of his desperation and worry pour out in the struggle to keep Mika with him.

The air grows hotter between them as his magic tries to overpower Mika's own, their perfect coexistence long since gone. Now, it just wants to keep Mika with him. Yuu's body shudders as tears begin to drip down his cheeks, he just wants Mika to _give in._ But the opposite happens, Mika finally manages to break free and the last thing he feels is the press of fingers against his head.

Yuu's body goes lax on top of his and Mika lays him gently on the ground, heart still beating rapidly from the struggle. _What was that?_ He lays there, breathing slowly until he feels the last of Yuu's magic relinquish its grip and fade back to its owner.

He stands and loops one of Yuu's arms around his neck, supporting the brunt of the other boy's weight as he drags them back to the inn lost in thought. Yuu hasn't lost control of his magic again since they've been together and he can only assume the stress of the day triggered him. Even so, what he felt from Yuu wasn't anger, it was fear and desperation. A combination that makes no sense when the danger was already behind them. What's he so afraid of?

~~~~~  
Yuu wakes up late the next morning, their bags are already packed, Mika's gone, and he has a splitting headache. He can't even remember how he got back last night, probably Mika. The last thing he recalls is fighting with Mika, after that everything's kind of a blur. He knows their plan was successful though and that everyone got away safely. If Mika brought him back to the inn, he can't be too mad, right?

He groans and drags himself out of bed, his own bed, he notices. Every part of him aches, from his bruised limbs to his pounding headache. _What the hell happened?_ By the time he's forced himself to get dressed, Mika's returned with breakfast and there's a tense silence in the room. The blonde won't even look at him, simply handing him his food before taking a seat on his bed to wait for him to finish.

Mika doesn't _look_ angry, but he's smart enough to know, he's done _something_ to thicken the air between them. "Mika, what happened last night?"

"We went through with their plan."

"And that's it?" He glares when Mika shrugs in response, "I don't remember the last part of the night, but nothing earlier should have made me feel as bad as I do right now. My head's killing me."

"Oh...that." Mika stands up to begin gathering their bags, "Your magic got out of control last night and you couldn't handle it."

"How?"

"I don't know," he snaps. "It's your magic! I'll meet you downstairs."

Yuu sits back in surprise as the other boy disappears out the door, now he _knows_ he screwed up somehow. If only he could remember what happened. Was it enough to make Mika hate him now? Steeling himself for what's likely to be a long few hours, he follows after Mika, desperately hoping for forgiveness.


End file.
